Riverdeep.net: News: Schools Follow Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 14, 2000

Schools Follow Martin Luther King Jr. into the Future

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Many schools across the United States have been named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. These schools share a special responsibility for keeping Dr. King's dream and vision alive in the hearts and minds of the children they serve. How will some of these schools be celebrating Dr. King's birthday?

In a somewhat unusual arrangement, Cambridge, Massachusetts, has two schools named after Dr. King in one building. There is the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School and the King Open School. Both schools include grades K through 8. Today, according to one of the Principals, Tim Groves, they plan to celebrate Dr. King's birthday together in a special assembly, which they do each year. The assembly is using song, dance, and dramatic readings to convey important elements in Dr. King's life. A gospel choir from the City of Cambridge is leading the singing.

The two schools are also working with David Fichter, a local muralist, to design and create a huge mural about Dr. King's life. The 80- by 20-foot mural will be mounted on the outside of the school. All students in the school will contribute drawings. Then, design teams from the 4^th through 7^th grades will put the ideas together into a complete design.

MLK Nobel The intention of the mural is to bring history to life with more depth than usual. Overall the mural will trace the life, work, and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. Each class is working on a different aspect of this theme. For example, some of the younger children will explore the childhood of Dr. King. Some older students will explore how Dr. King's philosophy of nonviolence applies to behavior on the school's playground. Another group of older students will explore the influence of Mahatma Ghandi on Dr. King. Each stage of Dr. King's civil rights campaign will be illustrated. There will also be special focus on part of his life that Dr. King spent in Boston.

Mr. Fichter has already been working on preliminary design ideas with Kelly Mowers, the art teacher at the schools. One design element was featured on a T-shirt produced by students and used for fund raising for the project.

Mr. Fichter is well known for designing large murals that are created with strong community participation. In 1984, he worked with the students at the Graham and Parks Elementary School in Cambridge to create a mural entitled, "Education is Liberation: The Rosa Parks Mural."

At today's birthday assembly for Dr. King, the mural project will be officially launched. It should be completed in June.

Boston, Massachusetts

In Boston, the 6^th grade students at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Middle School have all read a biography of Dr. King, according to Principal, Audrey Leung-Tat. Based on what they learned from their reading, they have prepared a program about Dr. King that they are presenting this morning to the rest of the school. It will include dramatizations, songs, and poems.

In preparation for this celebration, the whole school has also seen a film on Dr. King's life and has had a poetry writing contest for poems inspired by the film.

About 70 students from the school will also have a very special opportunity to attend a concert by the vocal group, Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Looking Ahead

These celebrations, and others like them, are preparation for a closer and more extensive look at the black heritage of our country during Black History Month.

Freedom Song from TNT

To challenge the way America's students think and learn about the civil rights movement, TNT Learning is presenting schools nationwide with the TNT Original Movie, "Freedom Song," and an accompanying guide with extensive curriculum connections.

The film, premiering on Sunday, February 27, at 8:00 p.m. ET, is inspired by actual accounts of the heroic men and women who led the civil rights movement as it spread throughout the cities and towns of our nation. It presents a powerful story from the front lines of the movement, which chronicles a father/son relationship that is nearly destroyed when the movement reaches their small Southern town.

TNT Learning's curriculum outreach for "Freedom Song" includes a 12-page educator's guide containing a film synopsis, character analysis, historical background, and before and after viewing activities. The curriculum guide offers several essential questions to prompt classroom discussion. What were the goals of the civil rights movement and were they accomplished? How does the movement compare with other movements in U.S. and World history? Does a civil rights struggle still exist today?

"The educator's guide challenges students to think about the importance of community involvement and the power of individual sacrifice," said Dr. John Richards, senior vice president and general manager of Turner Learning.

Before the premiere, the teacher's guide will be available at the above site or at http://www.turnerlearning.com/.

Black History Month on CNN Newsroom

CNN NEWSROOM is producing a series of stories highlighting issues of interest during Black History Month. One story will run every Friday during February 2000. The aim of the series is to move beyond traditional historical profiles of prominent African-Americans and look at issues of importance impacting both whites and blacks.

Afrocentric Education (Feb. 7):
CNN NEWSROOM examines the debate over Afrocentric education in the United States. First, the series will explain what Afrocentric education is by visiting a charter school in Detroit that is dedicated to this type of education.
African-Americans in Math and Sciences: Missing in Action (Feb. 14):
Historically, African-Americans have been underrepresented in science, engineering, and technology careers. Why is that?
Beauty (Feb. 21):
CNN NEWSROOM looks at the mass media's influence on the African-American woman's concept of beauty, and talks with some African-American women about their self image and why it may not be an accident that the rate of anorexia nervosa in the black community is on the increase.
The Blues (Feb. 28):
CNN NEWSROOM visits with a blues musician who is doing his part to educate young people on the blues. The program also looks at the history of blues, and its influence on everything from modern hip-hop to jazz.