Tuesday, May 13, 2008 • School is in session today
Instructional day 166 • 11 days left in school year • Calendar
¡Nuevo! Información en Español
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Tuesday, May 13, 2008 • School is in session today |
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¡Nuevo! Información en Español |
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Feature article Creativity flourishes during Black History MonthArticle and pictures by Tammy Lane From African drum and dance workshops to door decorations and read-ins, students across the school district have found a variety of ways to celebrate Black History Month during February.  Michael Ridley, Jeaunita Lowe and Courtney Smith, of the Bi-Okoto Drum and Dance Theatre, led a movement workshop at Northern Elementary School. The event was part of the school’s Black History Month celebration. View a slideshow of more pictures. But most of the students were wide-eyed as three members of the Cincinnati-based Bi-Okoto Drum and Dance Theatre led them through a harvest dance. “I hope it will be memorable and they’ll better understand the music and dance of West African culture and how it relates to our culture,” said art teacher Rachel Losch. Bi-Okoto’s Jeaunita Lowe introduced the call and response – encouraging the children to repeat African phrases after her – and she pointed out the drummers’ rhythmic cues. “No matter what region, Africans use dance and music as a part of everyday life,” said Lowe, who taught students the movements as Courtney Smith and Michael Ridley drummed behind her. The harvest dance is not choreographed, Lowe explained; rather, the story of the harvest (planting seeds, watering, picking fruit from trees) helps you remember the sequence of movements. The dance was a favorite for Darius, Krystal and Erykah, who beamed as they mimicked Lowe’s steps. “The kids get so involved once we get into our ‘musical journeys,’” said Smith, who has been in the Bi-Okoto company for about six months.  (Clockwise from top left) Second-graders Jaxon Fox, Kevin Ung, Savanna Ritchie and Alexis Lutz have learned a lot about inventor George Washington Carver. For Black History Month, students at Athens-Chilesburg Elementary School studied African-American inventors and decorated their classroom doors accordingly. View a slideshow of more pictures. At Maxwell’s event, more than two dozen guests read aloud to students in kindergarten through grade 5. Some then answered questions; others shared personal stories. “We wanted the children to be exposed to some rich African-American literature,” said Leigh Ann Finley, literacy coach at the school. Maxwell Elementary also hosted Ludeaenna Thomas, director of the African-American Theater Program at the University of Louisville, who performed a dramatic and musical skit of the African tale “Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters.” Across town, students at Athens-Chilesburg Elementary chose another means of artistic expression – decorating their classroom doors to spotlight African-American inventors. “(The students) definitely look at everyday inventions differently,” said fifth-grade teacher Karen Stewart, now that they know who was behind such innovations as the oven range, automatic elevator doors and the traffic light. “It’s just amazing he can make all these things with peanuts and (sweet) potatoes,” second-grader Alexis Lutz gushed as she explained the George Washington Carver display. “He’s a great scientist. We can tell,” classmate Savanna Ritchie added. The inventors won’t be forgotten after their door displays come down; each class also will make a square for a quilt – a tangible reminder of what they have learned. “Rather than Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr., we wanted to expand the kids’ knowledge of other African Americans and their contributions,” said Carla Jackson, the school’s family resource coordinator. |
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