The National Park Service is once again extending the deadline for its walking classroom in March.

Applications were due Friday, Jan. 30, but the park decided to extend the deadline to Sunday, Feb. 15. The classroom will be held March 20-25.

“We are still accepting [applications], and I would encourage people to apply,” said Patricia Butts with the National Park Service.

Butts said the deadline has only been extended for young adult participants that are between 18 and 25 years old.

“We thought that the original announcement may have gotten lost in the holiday hustle and bustle, so we wanted to give folks another opportunity once they got back to school to apply,” Butts said.

The walking classroom will give 150 young adult participants and 150 public participants the chance to walk in the footsteps of the foot soldiers that marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 in the fight for equal voting rights.

The weeklong event will show people what civil rights activists went through, as they marched. Participants will walk, participate in discussions with foot soldiers and keep a journal of their experience along the way.

Butts said it is vital to get the youth to participate in the walking classroom.

“It is important because of the youth involvement [in the Civil Rights Movement] and because the park’s centennial goal is to engage the youth as our next stewards and advocates for the park’s services,” Butts said.

The walking classroom, Butts said, will be an experience unlike any other that teaches people about the march from Selma to Montgomery.

“It will provide a unique opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge to get a representation of how it was during the march,” Butts said.

Applications can be found online at www.nps.org/semo, and they can also be picked up at the Lowndes and Selma Interpretive Centers.

The deadline to apply is Sunday, Feb. 15. The selection process will be made Feb. 25.

Applications can be faxed to 877-1985 or emailed to semo_walking_classroom@nps.gov. They can also be mailed to Walking Classroom, 7002 U.S. Highway 80 West, Hayneville, AL 36040.