9 Students On First Africa Tour

Nine black students from Pioneer and Huron High schools and their chaperones have departed for a two-week study tour of west África. The trip is believed to be the first tour of África ever sponsored by an American high school. ït was approved by the Ann Arbor Board of Education last year, to be taken during spring vacation in 1972. The students will visit Senegal, Ghana and Liberia. The three countries were chosen, according to Pioneer Counselor Burel Ford, because they represent the area of África from which most American slaves came, and because each represents a different cultural tradition. Senegal is a former French colony Ghana a former British colony, and 7 o" -UO' (_y7 - Liberia a long-time African republic. Ford said that Ghana will probably be thé most refreshing experience. "The Ghanians have a pride bordering on arroganee in what they've been able to accomplish since their independence," he said. "I also think that the students will find Liberia very much a mirror image of what America was like 20 years ago. "The one thing we expect to find in common in all these countries though, is an emphasis on education as the path to political office. Most African nations are developing an educational elite," Ford said. AU of the students on the tour are black, although it was open to any dent in the upper three grades. Pioneer High Principal Joseph Pollack also said that for a while there were some white students planning to go, but they were unable to raise the $750 fee. Taking the trip are: Rosalind Cobb, Debbie Frazier, Desmond Gary, Janet Gibson, Alice Munson, Jackie Rowry, Gail Smith, Richard Smith, and Marlys Thompson. Ford will be in charge of the students, assisted by counselors Decolius Johnson and Samuel Thornton, and school social worker Francis Watts. "This is something that the entire of community of Ann Arbor should be proud of. We plan to share our experiences," Ford said.