FARRELL, Pennsylvania (WKBN) – The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program will be taking Farrell students, educators and city representatives on a trip to visit historical sites in Salem and Montgomery, Alabama.

The tour group will consist of three Farrell students from seventh to 11th grades, each accompanied by a legal guardian, and five Farrell community leaders from the city and the school.

The goal of the scholarship program is to serve Black students, hoping to improve cultural awareness in the community.

To do this, the creator of the scholarship, Jermaine Somerset, made sure this year’s program set its sights on historic sites of significance after George Floyd’s death in 2020, the name of this year’s program: The Legacy Cultural Project.

“I see the program as another platform of communication between police departments and residents to help some of our marginalized communities,” Somerset explained, adding that the inaugural tour will be three days, June 8-10.

The tour plans to stop at Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, The Legacy Museum, The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, along with a warehouse where slaves were sold.

“We will walk in the footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King, John Lewis and the Freedom Riders who peacefully marched for voting rights,” said Somerset.

The program is being sponsored by multiple sources, including the City of Farrell and the board members of The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program.

“I’m very grateful that Mr. Somerset has not forgotten about his hometown and is giving back to the community in honor of his grandfather, the late Mr. Fred Somerset,” said Farrell Mayor Kim Doss. “This trip will improve cultural awareness and help connect our police, our youth, the parents, public officials (city council), school board and school director.”

Somerset hopes that this inaugural tour is the first in a long line of annual or biannual experimental learning events.

For more information on The Somerset Program, you can visit its website.