February 18, 2022 | The halls of Southview Middle School are lined with colorful images of well-known figures in Black history. But these are not your everyday Black history posters — collages of hand-colored squared fashioned together like a puzzle to create striking images that have spurred many conversations in Social Studies teacher Miriam Engle’s classroom.
Engle said she was looking for non-traditional Black History lessons for her classes, something that moved beyond reading a passage and answering questions.
“I started with purchasing the Ruby Bridges poster,” Engle said. “We started with a conversation about diversity within our classrooms and then into the definition of segregation. I passed out a square to each student to follow the directions in how to color it without them knowing what it was.
“We then watched some of the Ruby Bridges movie. The next day we watched some more and took time to piece the squares together and that's where the magic began. Students were so excited to see how each square made this large poster of the little girl we just watched. They began asking more questions about her and were amazed that she is alive and only in her 60s. Several students looked up more facts about her during the discussion and it also led us to talk about the Brown v. Board of Education decision.”
Beyond Ruby Bridges Engle’s class also created posters for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Booker T. Washington, Jackie Robinson, Kamala Harris, Simone Biles, Faith Ringgold, Kobe Bryant, and Amanda Gorman.
“Some of the figures were known while others needed some research,” Engle said. “It was pretty cool to hear one student say ‘Who is Faith Ringgold’ while another student begins talking about her because she had done a project on her last year. Students have taken such great pride in completing these collaboration posters. They enjoy seeing them up in the hallways and it has caused lots of discussions even between class periods since different classes completed different people.
Engle is one of many educators in Lorain City Schools working to bring Black History Month to life for students.
Longfellow Assistant Principal Margo Fox was behind the creation of a Black History Month banner that is sparking conversations in the building as it denotes local history markers from the late Pulitzer Prize-winning author and poet laureate Toni Morrison to television news anchor Tiffany Tarpley.
“There were names we knew and wanted to share with our students because of the local connections,” said Fox. “Our counselor, Deb Olle, also came up with some names. It’s cool because our students know some of the people on the banner. They can see someone like Jevon Terrance and know him as a local fashion designer. But he is part of Lorain’s history too.”
Fox created a similar banner for National Hispanic Heritage Month.
The Black History Month celebration at Admiral King on February 11 was a busy night for media specialist Patsy Pye. With an aim toward celebrating several areas of Black history and culture, Pye brought music, dance, and poetry to students and families.
“I wanted a collaborative night highlighting the history of Black inventors, African dancers, gospel music, and coming together as a whole to allow families to learn about Black history and culture,” she said.
Lorain native and Lorain High School graduate Deona Davis, who is nothing short of a modern history maker, served as the special guest speaker. Davis works currently as an industrial engineer with over 20 years of professional experience in this challenging STEM field where African American women make up a fraction of the workforce.
The Stevan Dohanos family engagement night was coordinated by the building’s Family Literacy Coordinators, LaValley Richey, a grade 1 teacher, and Catalina Blidaru, a Title I teacher.
The night included an art showcase with donated works from the Harrison Cultural Community Center, musical performances by Lorain High School’s own Cvo Oquendo, and community leader Inez James portraying Sojourner Truth while reciting Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman speech, which she gave during the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention in Akron.
With a nod towards remembering the uniqueness of everyone, everyone in attendance received an 8-pack of Crayola Crayons with colors to match skin tones and a small packet of jelly beans in crazy flavors to remind all not to judge anyone by their outward appearance.