District's schools celebrate Black History Month

From the high school to the elementary level, Auburn Enlarged City School District students are engaged in Black History Month activities.
Owasco Elementary featured projects for second, fifth and sixth grade students.

Second graders looked at different styles of Black artist Romare Bearden’s architecture to help them draw unique and interesting buildings. They used only primary colors which contrasted with night sky backgrounds. They also learned about background, middle ground, foreground when creating cityscape collages. 

Fifth and sixth graders learned about Black artist Charles R. Smith Jr. and had to show rhythm, contrast, shape, variety, and unity in their sports/hobbie collage pieces. 

At Seward Elementary, two African-American facts are being read during the day’s early announcements and at the end of the week, students who can identify all that week’s facts receive a bee buck from Vice Principal Angel Baines.

The celebration is geared toward informing students about African-Americans and their contributions to the country.

Genesee Elementary is featuring several displays highlighting Black History Month, including a collage of noted African-Americans in the main office and around the building. Special announcements are made each morning about a notable person.

Herman Avenue Elementary kindness ambassadors had the opportunity to speak to residents Blane Harding and Ted Freeman.

Meg Messina’s fourth-grade class completed acrostic poems for research and learned about the influence Black history has had on the music industry from the Harlem Renaissance to Hip Hop. The class has been curious about the Harlem Renaissance since their poetry unit is reading a Langston Hughes poem.

Casey Park Elementary has a display outside the auditorium featuring important figures in Black history as well as a map of the continent of Africa featuring its nations’ flags.

On Feb. 12, community members came into classrooms to read books with African-American themes and also distributed flags of African nations to students so they realize Africa isn’t a country but a continent featuring 54 different nations with their own histories and customs.

At Auburn High School and Auburn Junior High School, biographies of influential African Americans are being read to the students during morning announcements.