‘We are teaching our kids to accept everyone. Our motto is that all are welcome no matter the color of our skin, our differences, our backgrounds.’
– Teacher Rita Lythgoe
UPPER TOWNSHIP — Students in the Upper Township School District have been learning about the accomplishments of African Americans and their contributions to the creation and development of the United States during Black History Month.
At Upper Township Primary School, teachers Krista Iannone and Rita Lythgoe read two stories about civil rights activist Ruby Bridges.
Bridges was one of the first six Black children to desegregate William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis Nov. 14, 1960.
The books — “The Story of Ruby Bridges” and “Ruby, Head High” — are just a couple of those about how a 6-year-old Bridges faced angry mobs of parents who refused to send their children to the school if she were present.
“She was the driving force to have integrated schools,” Lythgoe said.
Iannone said her classroom is next to Lythgoe’s and they “try each month to do a display in the hallway for other kids to see.”
Lythgoe said Iannone made a depiction of Bridges as a young girl with construction paper and taped it on the wall. The students cut out the hearts and wrote messages about how they could show kindness throughout the school and world.
“We focus on her quote ‘Each and every one of us is born with a clean heart.’ We really focus on that because we really believe that’s true. We are teaching our kids to accept everyone. Our motto is that all are welcome no matter the color of our skin, our differences, our backgrounds. We focused on Ruby because we thought our kids could relate and emotionally comment and discuss her background,” Lythgoe said.
Teachers Michelle Inserra and Tim Smith have their second-graders studying American poet Amanda Gorman. On Jan. 20, 2021, Gorman became the sixth and youngest poet, at age 22, to deliver a reading at a presidential inauguration. She read “The Hill We Climb” during the event, which included the swearing-in of Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman and the first Black woman to reach such as lofty position in U.S. government.
Inserra said the students started studying Gorman during its poetry section and “then it tied in nicely to Black History Month. It was perfect timing.”
Inserra also said Gorman reportedly fell in love with poetry in third grade, just a little older than their students.
“The talented Amanda Gorman covers so many topics in our second-grade classroom — poetry, using our voices to change the world, Black History Month, how we can be a light for others and U.S. history,” Inserra said. “She is a very young, powerful woman for them to look up to.”
Gorman has overcome many obstacles in her life, including a speech impediment. That resolve ties into the school’s character education, demonstrating the ability to rise above adversity, Inserra said.
In chalk on the blackboard, Smith, a basic skills reading teacher and obviously a talented artist, recreated the moment that Amanda Gorman delivered her inauguration poem Jan. 20, 2021, during the ceremony for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Smith included a quote from Gorman on the board: “For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.”
“This quote by Amanda Gorman goes along so well with what we try to instill in our students every day,” Smith said. “It takes bravery to see the light and bravery to be the light. Meaning, it’s easy to turn a blind eye. You have to be brave enough to see the good in things and you have to be brave to do the good things even when it’s hard to do.”
He said they also tied the message in with examples such as Jackie Robinson and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“They were brave enough to see the potential of what could be. They were brave enough to stand up for what was right,” Smith said.
Michelle Drewnowski’s fourth-grade class kicked off Black History Month and World Read Aloud Day by listening to Andrea Davis Pinkney read “Because of You, John Lewis.” It is a true story about a boy named Tybre Faw who wants to meet a friend of Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis.
Lewis, a sharecropper’s son, dreamed of being a preacher and was inspired by King’s words.
According to the book, Faw also was inspired by King and convinced his grandmothers to take the seven-hour drive to Selma, Ala., to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
When they arrived, Faw went to the local church to meet U.S. Rep. Lewis. As he crossed the bridge, he reflected on all who walked before him and learned to “lift every voice and sing.”
Later, when Lewis was laid to rest, Faw was invited to read Lewis’ favorite poem, “Invictus,” at the funeral service.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff