Senate approves class-inspired Rosa Parks bill
Assemblyman Darryl Townes, center, and State Sen. John DeFrancisco, standing at right, welcome a group of Syracuse elementary students to the Capitol, where they watched the Senate pass a bill they had inspired. Syracuse Teachers Association member Marnie Coggins (far left) and parent chaperone Amy Venskus (second from the left) listen in. Photo by El-Wise Noisette.
As class trips go, a recent visit to Albany was especially meaningful for a group of fourth-grade students from Syracuse.
Fresh from a classroom lesson about Henry Hudson, the students from Van Duyn Elementary School stood on the 42nd-story observation deck of the Corning Tower and looked up and down the river he explored.
Later, they headed over to the Capitol to watch the state Senate pass a bill they had promoted to honor civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks on her birthday, Feb. 4.
The bill would permit bus companies to reserve a bus seat annually on that day to commemorate Parks' refusal in 1955 to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Alabama.
The class was inspired by the artwork of African-American artist Faith Ringgold and reading her book, If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks.
The students, including a group from Martin Luther King Jr. School in Syracuse, were guests of state Sen. John DeFransisco, R-Syracuse, who sponsored the bill in response to a letter-writing campaign by the Van Duyn class.
Seated in the Senate gallery, the students were recognized by DeFrancisco and his colleagues, many of whom stood to praise them for their civic interest.
"What a day," said their teacher, Marnie Coggins, a member of the Syracuse Teachers Association. "After experiencing something like this, I think they will want to be active in government for the rest of their lives."
The bill is now in the Assembly.