Shaun King is paying for an Academy Prep course exploring the history of the rights movement.

Tampa Bay Bucs quarterback Shaun King has joined the list of high- profile supporters of Academy Prep Center for Education, the small private school for disadvantaged boys and girls.

King is funding a class studying the history of the struggle for civil rights in the United States.

The class culminates in a trip during spring break to Atlanta and Birmingham and Montgomery, Ala., to famous sites of the civil rights movement. King and other family members plan to accompany the students and staff.

The course begins this evening, and King is expected to attend, meeting the students and participating in the initial discussions.

"He came over here one day last spring with Bucs staff," said headmaster John Effinger.

"I think they dragged him here. He was thinking it was an elite school of some kind. He became enamored of it and has been thinking about what's possible."

Effinger said King approached him about the class on civil rights. They decided eighth grade was the most appropriate age for the curriculum.

Because Academy Prep just opened a girls school with one class of fifth-graders, eighth-grade girls from John Hopkins Middle School will attend this year's course.

The curriculum is broken down into 12 sessions over 24 weeks. Held in the evenings, it is not part of the regular course load for the students but is mandatory for Academy Prep students.

The curriculum was designed by the Academy Prep staff, Bucs staff and representatives from the National Conference for Community and Justice (formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews).

Staff and guest lecturers will share teaching duties.

Topics include a discussion of prejudice, historical overviews of African tribes and colonialism, cultural movements such as the Harlem Renaissance and the development of the movement through the 20th Century.

King will pay for the students' four-day trip in the spring to follow the path of the modern civil rights movement. He also is treating them to a Bucs game on Dec. 24, Effinger said.

King could not be reached for comment, but Effinger said King, who grew up in St. Petersburg, has expressed an interest in supporting future classes if this one is successful.