Leading Edge experiences Underground Railroad

Leading Edge Academy students gave local families a deep learning experience Thursday night, presenting a detailed history of the Underground Railroad.

The Underground Railroad was a network of routes, places and people that helped slaves escape from the South at least 800 miles to safe havens in the North just before the Civil War.

“Underground Railroad, An Interactive Experience” shared the history, discussed the people who aided slaves to freedom and translated the language and gospel music lyrics that was code for what was really happening.

The event, in which “conductors” guided people between darkened classrooms representing each step of slaves’ journey to freedom, was part of Leading Edge’s celebration of Black History Month in Maricopa. Student “conductors,” as they were called in railroad code, were those who guided enslaved people to safety and freedom.

Railroad-coded terminology referred to slaves as “passengers.” Those who went south to find enslaved people seeking freedom were known as “pilots,” and “stations” were people’s homes or businesses where fugitive passengers and conductors could safely hide.

In each classroom, students discussed the Underground Railroad and quizzed audience members who were given rice sachets for correct answers.

This was the event’s second year after success last year.

“It went very well last year, so we said, ‘Let’s try to do it on a bigger scale,’” said Leading Edge history teacher Tamara Washington.

Washington originated and organized the Underground Railroad Experience, saying it is intended to educate and involve people in Black history.

Each classroom stop delivered different information: history, life along the Underground Railroad, spirituals and Black Wall Street.

This year’s effort was a major undertaking with about 100 students involved, Washington said, and it took months to organize. National Junior Honor Society students and other fourth and fifth graders were each assigned different roles in the project.

The experience shared lesser-known historical facts, including that Quakers were the first organized group of abolitionists to help carry slaves to freedom.

Student speakers shared the fact the lyrics of gospel songs such as “Wade in the Water” were coded references that delivered information about the Underground Railroad’s path to freedom.

Other coded phrases used were “the wind blows from the South today,” which was a warning that bounty hunters were nearby.

“A friend of a friend sent me” was a password used by fugitive slaves to indicate they were sent by the Underground Railroad network.

The event concluded with a taste of soul food and student presentations including the biographies of civil rights activists Maya Angelou and Martin Luther King Jr.

Artwork depiction Black history and gospel songs by the student choir were also staged.

“It started with just making sure some of our kids were making a connection to where they come from because the history books sometimes only give a brief overview of what happened,” Washington said. “I want to be able to connect to my history. You can’t go forward if you don’t know where you come from.”