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Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day

Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day gives children the chance to celebrate Ruby’s courage by walking to school and is the perfect opportunity to teach children about the civil rights movement and make connections to today’s collective efforts for change

Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day will be held this year on Thursday, November 14. We encourage schools across Oregon to host events on that day or another day in November! Incentive ordering will include special Ruby Bridges stickers and bookmarks along with standard incentives. Incentive ordering will open in October.

Visit the Ruby Bridges Foundation to register your event and get event planning resources.

Oregon SRTS Resources for Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day

Oregon SRTS provides resources for to help make this event fun for your community. You can order incentives here. Be sure to place your order by November 7th to receive your items before November 14th!

About Ruby

In 1945 the US Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Brown v. the Board of Education ended racial segregation in public schools. However, southern states continued to resist. Ruby spent kindergarten in a segregated classroom. In 1960 a federal court ordered Louisiana schools to desegregate. The school district created an entrance exam to see if African American students could attend an all-white school. Ruby and five other students passed the exam. The six students were to be sent to two different all-white schools. The school district delayed their start, and Ruby’s first day of school was November 14, 1960. A few days before, the two African American students who were going to attend with Ruby decided to stay in their home school. Ruby braved Frantz Elementary School on her own.

How Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day Began

In May 2018, a group of fifth-graders from Martin Elementary School in South San Francisco, California, learned about Ruby and asked their school board to pass a resolution making November 14 Ruby Bridges Day. The San Mateo County Office of Education Safe Routes to School team met with students about making it a walk to school day and invited them to present this proposal to the San Mateo County Board of Education.

A resolution was passed endorsing November 14 as Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day in San Mateo County. When November 14 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the event is celebrated on the following Wednesday. The Safe Routes to School team invited other schools to join the Martin Elementary School students in honoring Ruby’s courage by celebrating this walk to school day. Fourteen schools participated in 2018 and 25 participated in 2019.