Combining history, art, entertainment, research, performance and other facets of learning, Killeen ISD schools have hosted Black History Month events to teach, to express and to celebrate.
At Ira Cross Elementary School Thursday, the school’s Brilliant Girls Rock Leadership Club and a school choir led the way in a performance that included spoken word, a song about the Underground Railroad and a rendition of We Will Overcome.
After the music and poetry, family members visited hallways to see student art and research and listened to monologues in honor of trailblazers like George Washington Carver and Madame C.J. Walker.
School parent liaison Lenora Todd said she wanted students to see the contributions of historical figures who built the society they enjoy today and to appreciate more poignantly the privilege of education.
“I wanted to tie into the math and science,” she said, noting scientists like Katherine Johnson and Benjamin Banneker, who did significant work in fields not always open to all people.
“Every part of education is essential. You need to understand the privileges we have,” she said.
Every grade level prepared a poster or other item illustrating an important contributor to Black history.
Ira Cross Black History project photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/killeenisd/albums/72177720332239375
At Trimmier Elementary School Friday, each grade level performed a song, dance or spoken word expressing Black History Month.
Killeen ISD Superintendent King Davis and Killeen Mayor Debbie Nash-King, now a City Council candidate, provided video messages to students, praising their efforts to learn and celebrate history.
Each grade level at Trimmier focused on a decade, featuring contributors as diverse as Shirley Chisholm, Rosa Parks and Michael Jackson from the 1950s to the 2000s.
“The theme was Black History Through the Decades,” said Trimmier Counselor Myesha Tillis. “We had each grade level highlight Black history through influential people, poems, music, dance and messages,” she said.
“Our hope is to provide information and history so they can know about the cultural impact that African Americans have had on history.”
Trimmier Elementary Black History project photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/killeenisd/albums/72177720332247622/
Hay Branch and Clear Creek elementary and Harker Heights and Chaparral high schools are among the many other schools that have celebrated Black History Month during February.