Trivia contest spans Black History Month at Mary Todd
Author: Tammy L. Lane • First Posted: Friday, March 01, 2013
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Mary Todd Elementary posted the trivia in the foyer just inside the front door.
During Black History Month, Mary Todd Elementary students decorated teachers’ doors with their dreams and matched wits in a schoolwide trivia competition.
“We’re trying to embrace different cultures in our school and help kids learn in new and different ways,” said Principal Kari Kirchner, whose students also celebrated Hispanic History Month in the fall.
Each weekday morning in February brought a new BHM challenge for participating classes.
“They had all day to research it and find the answer,” said Debbie Forker, a kindergarten paraeducator. “It was everything from inventors to teachers to entertainers – they got a wide variety.”
Among the trivia:
- Smuggler of military intelligence to French allies in World War II: Josephine Baker
- First African-American depicted on a U.S. postage stamp: Harriet Tubman
- Inventor of the ice cream scooper in 1897: Alfred Cralle
Cindy Townsend’s second-grade class took top honors in the overall competition, followed by Johnna Koger-Hall’s fifth-graders. Tying for third place were Whitney Napier’s third-graders and Victoria Berger’s fourth-grade class.
In the door-decorating contest, the judges considered theme, creativity, student involvement and responses to specific questions about their dreams and goals. Lauren Richardson’s first-graders won first place for their MLK-centric design, in which each child described how they could make the world a better place. Carrie Mulert’s third-grade class was runner-up with an acrostic poem. Tying for third place were Napier’s third-graders with an “I Have a Dream” theme and Townsend’s second-graders with a freedom quilt.