KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson has covered Frank Rushton Elementary School's push for Ruby Bridges to come to Kansas and have a commemorative day in her honor. Share your story idea with Alyssa.
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Frank Rushton Elementary School took their history lesson Friday outside the classroom.
Friday marked the 65th anniversary of Ruby Bridges integrating an all-white school in the south.
Bridges was six when she became the first African American to attend a "whites-only'' school" after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision.
Students at Frank Rushton Elementary School know Bridges' story well.
They allowed KSHB 41 Reporter Alyssa Jackson to walk to school with them on Friday to honor Bridges.
"Today we show courage and greatness for Ruby Bridges," said Caleb Orellana Solis, a 5th-grade student.
Students have been learning about Bridges making history . They equate her impact to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"She was a little kid, got taunted, stuff thrown at…I just want people to represent her because she did all that as a little kid," said Baraka Ruhumukiza, a 5th-grade student.
The students understand there was a time when white and Black students couldn't go to school and learn together.
"She helped the world see white kids and Black kids come together and we're all equal," said Ariadne Garcia Montoya, a 5th-grade student.
The kids walked about two miles to school on Friday in celebration of Bridges' contributions to history.
Retracing that period in history fascinates them.
On this day last year, they got to meet Bridges face-to-face.
"When I met her, it was very exciting," Ruhumukiza said. "She was talking to everyone."
The students created a video asking Bridges to visit Kansas. She answered them and also spoke at Washburn University in Topeka.
Several students from the school took a field trip to hear her speak and asked her questions about the day they've read about in their history lessons.
Kunakhovich said: "A lot of other kids got pulled out because their parents were scared. Ruby Bridges' mom and Ruby Bridges knew she could do it."
The students took Bridges' story a step further to the Kansas capitol earlier this year.
They advocated for HB 2330, which would've designated Nov. 14 as the day each year to honor Ruby Bridges in Kansas.
The bill didn't pass out of committee.
"I just wanted them to say yes, but they said no," Ruhumukiza said. It was pretty sad."
The word "no" didn't stop a young Black girl in the "Jim Crow" South and it won't deter the students momentum.
An average bill in the legislature can take up to five years to pass — meaning the kids could be in high school before it's a success. They're still hopeful that lawmakers will reconsider.
"She taught the lesson, 'Keep doing what you’re doing if you know it’s right,"' Kunakhovich said.
This week, Johnson County is honoring Ruby Bridges with a special walk and read.
You can walk the trail at Waterworks Park and read stories about Bridges through Sunday.
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