Students in Beth Young's social justice class examine “Emancipation and its Legacies,” for an online assignment. The panel presentation aims to educate students on civil rights history, from the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation to the Civil Rights Act over 100 years later.

CRANBERRY TWP — Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School is taking a new initiative on educating its students on civil rights history.

Students in history, social justice and global issues classes are learning through a panel presentation that covers civil rights history, from the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 to the signing of the Civil Rights Act more than 100 years later.

“I thought this would be good to have,” Widenhofer said. “This takes the whole process of what happened from slavery to equal rights and asks if we have equal rights yet.”

Widenhofer said the school brought in the panel presentation, “Emancipation and its Legacies,” in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and African American History Month.

The panels were brought to the school after North Catholic became an affiliate school for The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in 2016.

Information on the panels are taken from primary historical sources.

“These are real documents that have been recreated from their (Institute's) collection,” Widenhofer said.

Beth Young's social justice class examined the presentation for an online assignment Wednesday morning.

“We've never had this in our school before,” said senior Anna Rutowski, 18, who called the presentation “revolutionary” for education.

“This is a predominantly white school, so it's nice to get this history,” she said. “I feel like it's going to be a great addition to our school.”

Junior Amanda Robic, 16, said she hopes to have a better understanding of civil rights history.

“I feel like it's sort of glossed over a lot when we learn history,” Robic said. “This gives us a more impactful look into what actually happened.”

Widenhofer said he hopes students will be motivated to “do the right thing” in general.

“We've done a lot of great things here in America, but it didn't happen overnight,” he said. “It took generations and over 100 years after the Civil War was over that these people could vote comfortably.”

The presentation will be at the high school until Feb. 6.