Kobe Bryant’s high school jersey, model versions of the planes Tuskegee Airmen flew in World War II, artifacts from Africa and personal essays adorn a hallway at Horace Mann Elementary, all part of a Black History Month museum curated by students, teachers and staff.
It’s the second time the school has created such a museum, exploring this week the “Past, Present and Future” with student artwork, artifacts and a video presentation.
And the museum includes students’ personal contributions on what Black history means to them.
For Khole Leiva, a kindergartener and aspiring ballerina, that means thanking “those past and present who make a difference in my life every day.”
“My future is bright,” she says in an essay and self-portrait included in the museum. “I know that what I do today and every day will help make my dreams come true.”
Then there’s Aariyona Tilley, a fourth grader and future artist, who says Black History Month “means we celebrate African American people who helped us when our ancestors were slaves and I thank them for that. It is also about celebrating people from throughout history.”
Second grader Yareli Cabrera drew a portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama and compiled a list of important facts (she attended Harvard Law School and met Barack Obama, the future president, in 1989), character traits (she’s helpful, honest, positive and has confidence, Cabrera notes) and other biographical information.
Gail Felder, a second-grade teacher who organized the museum, said her class spent a month researching and compiling a slideshow of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of Black pilots and crews who fought in World War II, as well as building and painting model planes.
Another second-grade class used paper plates to replicate Maasai necklaces.
“I’m very proud to have this on campus,” Felder, who is retiring in June after 34 years of teaching, said. “It’s a hidden gem.”
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