‘Meaningful’ Lessons Learned During Cinnaminson Unity Club Trip

CINNAMINSON, NJ – Members of the Cinnaminson Township School District Unity Club recently returned from several excursions that sought to expand their school lessons of diversity, acceptance, kindness, leadership and service.

“Typically, the club travels to [New York City] and Washington DC,” Melissa DeClementi, a health and physical education in the Cinnaminson Township School District, told Patch.

“This year, they decided on local trips to keep it cost-friendly and safe,” she continued. “We felt we needed to keep the tradition of taking the students on meaningful trips but wanted to make everyone comfortable with traveling and to reintroduce our students to field trip expectations and etiquette while representing our school.”

Therefore, instead of the Big Apple and the nation’s capital, the club first visited National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia on May 2. The visit focused on “learning about people who had overcome diversity and hardships and acted as advocates and heroes throughout history,” DeClementi said.

On the way home, the club stopped at Santucci’s Pizza on Broad Street. This establishment is owned by members of a family who were educated in Cinnaminson schools, she said. Some Santucci family members shared their story of starting a restaurant business and turning it into a successful one that continues to grow, she added.

A second trip on May 5 took the club’s members to Kidsbridge Tolerance Center in Ewing. This center’s programming was largely centered on bullying prevention, social-emotional skills and anti-bias/anti-racism programming, according to DeClementi.

“Students participated in self-reflection and team building, discussions about the need for these skills and ways to make change and be the change including starting from within themselves,” she said.

Approximately 60 Cinnaminson Township School District students who are Unity Club members and nine parents went on one or both of the trips, according to Perlow.

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