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Fayette schools celebrate and honor Black History Month, Fayetteville Elementary Celebrates Multicultural Day
February is Black History Month and hundreds of students from Fayette County Public Schools celebrated by participating in various activities. From art displays to essay contests and everything in between, students paid tribute to influential African Americans throughout history.
J.C. Booth Middle participated in their annual Black History Month Trivia contest, but this year they wanted to incorporate the use of technology. Students in Colleen Johnson’s broadcasting and communications class had the opportunity to create graphics which displayed facts about an important African American in history. Booth used this as opportunity to get their school community involved in Black History Month as well as teach students about African American history.
Two middle schools conducted assemblies to honor important African American figures in history. Flat Rock Middle hosted an assembly celebrating African Americans through music, poetry, and dance. While Whitewater Middle invited Joanna Maddox, a storyteller and playwright, to act out her role as Rachel Clark in the play “Raising a President,” which tells the story of Jimmy Carter. This play coincides with the eighth-grade curriculum says Laura Kennedy, an eighth-grade teacher at Whitewater Middle.
Students at Sandy Creek High participated in an essay and poster contest about Black History Month. Every student had the opportunity to create an essay or poster on the contributions of African Americans in World War I or students could choose from a list of African Americans who have played a significant role in history, but are not as well known. The Patriots also showed a free screening of the film “Hidden Figures.”
Each year the social studies hallway at Fayette County High is filled with hundreds of displays about prominent African American men and women in history. During the month of February, this hallway is known as the “Black History Hall of Fame.”
Fayette County High also hosted a Black History program called “The Strength of Our Roots: Celebrating Black History,” which allowed students of all cultural backgrounds to display their talents through original spoken word pieces, songs, step performances, and dance. Each performance provided an opportunity to learn more about African American poets, authors, and writers.
Elementary schools, Sara Harp Minter and Huddleston, honored Black History Month by incorporating a variety of learning activities for each grade level. Fifth graders at Huddleston created inventive posters about important movements in history such as the Civil Rights movement, while second graders at Sara Harp Minter watched a video about Martin Luther King, Jr.
From ethnic foods to student art displays, the students and staff of Fayetteville Elementary came together to celebrate the second annual Multicultural Day.
This event was used as an opportunity “to celebrate students and families in our community, while bringing awareness of the rich diversity that exist throughout our nation and countries around the world,” says Lucila Sambula, an English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher at Fayetteville Elementary.
To open the program, chorus students performed the song “Lift Every Voice” and several students entertained guests with a step show.
There were two student led speeches where the student speakers talked about the influence of important diverse leaders in history.
With an opportunity to celebrate different cultures within the school, the staff brought in different foods from many different heritages and shared them with the visiting guests.
Sambula says, “This day affords us with an opportunity to value the diverse culture in our school.”
Angela Sattinger, a fourth-grade teacher, encouraged students to embrace different cultures and empowered them to dream big.
Over 100 students lined the hallways of Fayetteville Elementary to participate in a “Wax Museum” where they dressed up and presented themselves as important historical figures.
From fifth grade to kindergarten, students in the “Wax Museum” recited important facts about the historical figure they represented, which included Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Jr, Pocahontas, Phillis Wheatley, Bill Gates, and countless others.
Sambula says, “Our role is to guide and encourage students to choose the person who has made a lasting impression on them through the accomplishments of that person’s achievements.”
With help from Laura Wilkerson and Candace Braumuller, Special Education teachers at Fayetteville Elementary, this event was a success. Sambula says Multicultural Day is important to Fayetteville Elementary because “each year, we are striving to showcase the ever growing and developing leaders here at Fayetteville Elementary.”