By: Brionna Hall, Contributor
During this past winter break, I and nine other education majors had the opportunity to visit New Orleans, Louisiana. On this trip, we had the chance to see four different charter schools created by two resilient women who pushed to provide education to any student. No matter what they looked like, where they came from, their abilities or their disabilities. During our week of service, we took a glimpse into the Crescent City School District by working in the classrooms with students and speaking with a variety of administrators and staff who informed us on their backgrounds, journeys, how they ended up in their positions, their love for education and their love for the district they work in.
Seeing and feeling such positivity and devotion from the adults in all the buildings, and that being equally reciprocated by every student was groundbreaking. With many of us previously being in various schools and districts around Buffalo, we were still highly impressed with the dynamic and leadership we witnessed throughout these schools. No education system throughout this world is perfect, but still, during this experience, we saw so many great and effective strategies used in the classroom that we were eager to incorporate into our own classrooms and push for all Buffalo schools to do the same.
While learning about education was a big part of this trip, we also used our time in NOLA to learn about the effects of slavery in Louisiana. Systematic racism, mass incarceration and the treatment of incarcerated individuals within the Louisiana State Penitentiary, which is also known as Angola. We received a visit from Dr. Annie Phoenix, who is not only the director of the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University New Orleans, but also provides incarcerated individuals with classes that are used as college credits so they can earn a degree while incarcerated. Listening to Dr. Phoenix was like a breath of fresh air, knowing that someone like her used her power to fight against injustice and give a group of people who tend to be forgotten and thought less of a new path where they can better themselves. With her work, Phoenix is pushing for change within the justice system so that people are no longer seen as a number or a dollar sign, but as humans with the same fundamental rights as everyone in this country, regardless of race, class or sex.
For our last day in New Orleans, we visited the Whitney Plantation. On this tour, we were able to go inside the “big house,” where slave owners lived and shacks where enslaved people would sleep. We were also able to see many different tools used for cooking, building and other forms of work. Through this tour, we were able to learn about hundreds, if not thousands, of stories from enslaved people who told their horrific experiences while being enslaved, and the things that they went through in their lifetimes. Although it was and always will be a heavy topic to talk about, having that experience taught me things that I had never known. Even though it’s hard to hear, it brings me so much closer to my history and educated me more than a book, class or movie ever could.
Going on this service-learning trip was one of the best choices I’ve made throughout the entirety of my four years of college. It not only brought me closer to my peers but also reminded me of why I chose the path I’m on now, and gave me all the more motivation to continue it. Trips such as this one are a crucial part of education because they not only open up our horizons, but make Canisius unlike any other university and make our students so uniquely well-rounded. I encourage every student to try at least one service-learning trip that they think they'd be interested in. You never know how much of an impact it will have on the rest of your college career, if not your life.