Speaker, readers, displays highlight Black History Month

Every February, the Auburn Enlarged City School District celebrates Black History Month with different lessons, events, and displays throughout its seven buildings.

A special event was held at Seward Elementary School. Longtime district employee Leslie Walker spoke to sixth graders about her experience attending Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, DC in August 1963 when she was 12 years old. 
Walker, the daughter of a reverend who grew up in the South, talked about the impact the speech had on her life as she came of age in the Civil Rights era.

Walker also said she’s a great-great-niece of Harriet Tubman and

answered students’ questions about attending the speech and her life.

Another special event was when Auburn-Cayuga NAACP members visited Genesee Elementary School to read books about Black history to students as part of National African-American Parent Involvement Day.

At Auburn High School, activities on Black history were planned in social studies classes. Biographies of influential African Americans were read during Auburn Junior High School morning announcements. Students learned more information in their history classes.

In Casey Park Elementary history classes, students in all grades were assigned a historical figure to create a presentation and video. Those will be shown at the end of the month. Casey Park also had a display in the school lobby. Herman Avenue Elementary featured a big display of Black history in the hallway. Owasco Elementary also had a display, in addition to morning announcements, that gave information on historical Black figures.

Whether it’s presentations or displays, Auburn students have a variety of ways to learn more about Black history.

-- Christopher Sciria /AECSD Public Information Specialist