Getting to know MLK Jr. and his Legacy

This week in Gathering, Kindergarten, 1^st, and 2^nd grade classes marked the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday by reading of excerpts from Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. The book helps students develop an understanding of the Civil Rights Movement and King’s legacy, by introducing them “to the justices and injustices Dr. King, Jr. experienced as a kid,” explains Director of Diversity Michelle Belton. “The illustrations are amazing,” she adds.

 

Dance Teacher Elly Porter observed how engaged the children were during the reading, particularly when the story addressed how to love others. Elly hopes the children also connected with the themes of kindness and fairness. “’Using your words’ is a concept we talk about a lot here at Lowell,” she says. “I think [the children] understood you can use your words in a big way.”

 

“It’s amazing to see the different gifts that people bring to Gathering,” Elly says, noting that Primary School Division Coordinator Jessica Kessler created the visuals that accompanied the reading and that the Kindergarten teachers reviewed the book and edited the excerpts for age appropriateness. “When all of our voices work together, it’s pretty powerful,” she concludes.

 

Extensions in the Classroom

 

 

The conversation begun in Gathering has extended into classrooms in the Primary School. First grade Teacher Kristin Peck and Associate/Spanish Teacher Nuria Gutierrez read the book Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh in class today. The book shares the experience of a family who helps lead the Mendez v. Westminster case in California almost 10 years before Brown v. Board of Education. The ruling desegregated California schools and affected more than 5,000 Latino children.

 

Kristin and Nuria wanted to broaden the student’s view of equality while acknowledging Dr. King’s significant role in creating change for the country. “Inequality affects a lot of people from many different backgrounds,” Kristin says. As the class read the book together, one student commented, “That school doesn’t look very fun.” Another child asked, “How did it happen again when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was around?” “You mean how did [inequality] continue?” Kristin clarified and went on to answer, “It takes a long time to change something like that, and that’s why we say it’s important to get to know someone and to play with new people.” Cultivating compassion for others is just the beginning!