By Olivia Habermann, 6th Grade & Ms. Justine Franco, Journalism Advisor

Despite the obstacles of a virtual learning environment, the Explore Middle Schools student, staff, and faculty worked hard to continue their annual Black History Month celebration.

Principal Allyson Krone hosted the school wide Google Meet to share the fantastic work completed throughout the month. Principal Krone began by sharing, “At Explore Middle School, we incorporate Black history year-round, not just in February. However, we use the month of February to dig deeper into history and make connections with the past. We reinforce to students that black history is American history and is relevant to all students. This year, we are here to celebrate the “unsung heroes.”

Every department at Explore was tasked with preparing meaningful lessons centered around the unsung heroes within their discipline culminating with purposeful project assignments that allow students to construct a variety of final products.

“I am proud to work at school where antiracist teaching is a top priority as it is in my own classroom and not just in February. I was very excited about our school wide theme of unsung heroes this year. I knew that this was a great opportunity for all teachers to create consequential lessons that allow students to understand the entire story of each of these unsung heroes as it exists in our American history,” 8th grade English language arts teacher, Justine Franco, explained.

In their social studies classes, students were tasked with honoring and recreating the artistic, cultural and political achievements and contributions of African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance. Projects included student performances and art such as 6th grader Lola singing a rendition of “What is This Thing Called Love?” by Ella Fitzgerald, 8th grader Olivia’s recreation of Beauford Delaney’s A Portrait of James Baldwin.

6th and 7th graders in English language arts, the 6th and 7th students were able to choose between writing a commemorative speech or a textbook entry about the Buffalo Soldiers or Black Suffragettes. In the 8th grade, the students were tasked with either writing a eulogy for the Black World War II Veterans or writing a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris from the point of view of a Black Suffragette.

In music classes, students were encouraged to explore the work of unsung heroes in the music industry. 8th grader Gio researched jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal and created a piece called A Tribe Called Quest sampling Jamal’s The Awakening. Similarly, in health and physical education, the students explored the history of lesser known Black heroes in sports and medicine and shared their story.

STEM students were given the opportunity to research the contribution of Black heroes to the field and experiment with their discovery. For instance, 6th grader Dmitri created a model of Percy Julian’s Physostigmine Molecule, 7th grader Victoria created a home security system out of legos in honor of Marie Van Brittan Brown and 8th grader Maddie spent time making her own potato chips using George Speck’s original recipe.

The celebration held on a school wide Google Meet also included performances of Martin Luther King Jr. 's “The Other America” from 8th grader Gabriel and “Our God is Marching On” from 6th grader Michael. The brothers both participated in the Dr. Martin Luther King Oratory Contest this year. Gabriel competed for his 5th time and Michael for the 2nd.

Vietnam War Veteran, Purple Heart Recipient, and Hudson County Schools of Technology community member Mr. Tony Goodson, was celebrated as Superintendent Lin-Rodriguez unsung hero. Mr. Goodson then shared the story of the Wereth 11, his unsung heroes.

This was an amazing opportunity for students, staff, faculty, and community members to learn more and the students were happy to see all of the work and be a part of such a beautiful schoolwide project.

During the assembly, 6th grader Michelle, explained, “Beauty is what I see, creativity was put in these.”

Isabel, 6th grader, agreed. “I thought it was a great way for people to be able to learn and teach about Black History Month.”

To view the entire Black History Month Celebration visit: https://sites.google.com/hcstonline.org/bhm-unsung-heroes