Many students have heard about civil rights movements in school, but few have taken a whole course on that very thing. Central Kitsap High School now provides that, a class that explores the historical context of movements that have made our society more inclusive. 

From the prominent movements of the past to what’s happening now, they’re studied by the students in Room 2203. 

Mrs. Rumpke, the teacher of this class explains the origin and main inspiration for the class. 

“It was Mr. Shuchart who came up with the idea and it was after the murder of George Floyd where we saw students actively participating and demonstrating.” Rumpke said. 

Rumpke later mentioned having a lengthy discussion one afternoon with a group of CKHS teachers on the topic of this brand new class idea. 

“Kind of just, sat around and talked about the idea of having a course available like this to students and then we had to go through the process of getting that approved by the school board.” Rumpke said. 

Rumpke says that the process of getting a course approved has a lot of questions to answer when proposing a new course and making sure it lines up with the Washington State standards. 

“It’s kind of daunting to take on the task of creating something completely new and trying to figure out the resources can you use. What is the format going to be like?” Rumpke said. “What historical time periods and movements and groups are you going to focus on? And can you do it for no money?”

The proposal was a success and students have come in to learn from what was created. Arielle Miller, one of these students, shares her feelings when she hears the words “social justice”.

“It’s hard to describe. A sense of empowerment when I hear the word ‘justice’. Definitely a sense of empowerment. Yeah, social justice sort of to me is, how I would put this.” Arielle Miller said.

She also shares what she’s excited about in this course, as well as what ongoing movements she’s familiar with.

“Things that I’m not familiar with,” Arielle Miller said. “Things that I am familiar with is Black Lives Matter and the Women’s Movement, but, things, movements I am not familiar with or protest movements that I don’t know. And I’m always curious to learn more information about the things that I do.”

Another student in the class, Olivia Miller, also talks about her excitement for what kind of movements and contexts the class has to offer.

“I’m passionate about it, so I’d say I’m pretty excited.” Olivia Miller said. 

Olivia Miller further talks about her excitement with what the class was being taught. The class is learning about various social justice movements and currently (at the time of the interview) learning about a movement with the Native Americans pushing to get their land back from colonizers. Personally, she’s excited about learning about the Black Lives Matter movement from an educational context since the movement recently unfolded. 

“I think we’re learning about the Stonewall Riots and I’m part of the LGBTQIA community, so I’m excited about that since it’s not something that’s ever been covered in school or any of the classes that I’ve been in before.” Olivia Miller said. “But that’ll be really cool. So that’s a connection I have with one.”

According to  History, the Stonewall Riots were a movement in the late 60’s after police raided an NYC inn that served as a safe space for LGBTQIA+ citizens. It was common in that time period for police officers to raid gay bars, but this was the first time members of the city’s LGBTQIA+ population started to fight back. This led to an uprising that would start a new era of resistance. 

Equality has been talked about by many throughout history, and what Mrs. Rumpke hopes for the students is that they know anyone can lend a hand no matter who they are or where they stand. 

“It doesn’t take superheroes, you don’t have to be a Martin Luther King or a Rosa Parks to be involved in a successful, meaningful movement to make things better for other people. It is really the actions and involvement and heart of everyday citizens that can create very powerful change.”