Lower School students spent Black History Month studying African American explorers of the land, air, and sea. They read books about exploration and completed in-class projects. Some students were also honored to conduct interviews, known as Smart Chats, which were played for the entire school on SmartBoards in the classroom.
Smart Chat sessions included interviews with Dr. Lisa White, paleontologist; Stacye Harris, commander of the 22nd Air Force unit; Colonel Gil Williams, military pilot; and Ashanti Johnson, oceanographer. Students asked the men and women about how they became interested in their field, how they prepared academically for their careers; what they liked (and disliked) about their work; and what their favorite discovery was. Each of the interviewees challenged the students to engage in active learning and discovery in their own
lives.
The month culminated with the Black History Month chapel, a fun-filled celebration of all that had been learned during February. Students performed skits about exploration and famous African American explorers. Special guest Hillard Pouncey, who was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen also shared about being one of the first African American fighter pilots in history. The Tuskegee Airmen regiment was a unit of black pilots that fought in World War II and the Korean War.
During the chapel, Sherry Fair sang a beautiful song and the Lower School chorale led attendees in Lift Every Voice. Chris Morgan led the entire crowd of parents, teachers, and students in a “Get Funky” exploration dance. Children and adults alike loved the dance, which featured movements that simulated scanning the sky with a telescope, digging for rocks, stomping like a dinosaur, and searching the landscape. Morgan is father of Sebastian Morgan, a Whitefield student, and husband to Kim Fields Morgan, who chaired the WPA committee that coordinated Lower School Black History Month.
Lower School students also presented local African Americans with a “medal of fire,” for their contributions to the field of exploration. Fourth-grade teachers announced the winners of a Martin Luther King, Jr. essay contest. The fourth graders, who visited MLK’s home earlier in the month on a field trip, were asked to write an essay about the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and how he influenced their own lives. Marin Eckerson, Logan Robinson, and Annie Watson won the essay contest for their classes, and their inspiring essays were read aloud at the end of the chapel.