Celebrating MLK Day

 

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. “’Using your words’ is a concept we talk about a lot here at Lowell,” Dance Teacher Elly Porter notes. “I think [the children] understood you can use your words in a big way.”

 

The conversation begun in Gathering has extended into classrooms in the Primary School. For example, 1st Grade Teacher Kristin Peck and Associate/Spanish Teacher Nuria Gutierrez wanted to broaden their students’ view of equality while acknowledging Dr. King’s significant role in creating change for the country, so they read Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh with their class. The book shares the experience of a family who helped 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.

 

 

The 4th grade MLK oration will be held on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 2:30 pm in the black box theater. The tradition of having the 4th grade perform excerpts from civil rights speeches for fellow students in 3^rd-5th grades was instituted by Music and Drama Teacher Charmaine Hamann over a decade ago. Each year, the oration recognizes a different aspect of King’s legacy.

 

Over the years, the performance has highlighted other important civil rights leaders—Nelson Mandela Coretta Scott King, and The Elders—as well as historical milestones including the passage of new civil rights laws since the march on Washington in 1963; the election of Barak Obama, the first African-American president of the United States; the dedication of King’s monument on the National Mall; and the fiftieth anniversary of King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

 

 

Middle School students have been hard at work, preparing for a special gathering honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Wednesday, January 20 at 1:00 pm. This year’s performances explore the influences on Dr. King, as well as those he influenced.

 

Seventh graders will deliver short speeches about notable historical figures such as Mahalia Jackson, John Lewis, Claudette Colvin, Ella Baker, and Bayard Rustin. 6^th graders will perform a song, and several Middle School students will be presenting a dance choreographed by Dance Teacher Breani Williams. The dance number combines contemporary, jazz, and hip hop moves and is set to “I Have A Dream” from the Freedom Writers (2007) soundtrack.

 

 

In honor of the day of service, the LPC Community Service Committee is collecting casseroles for SOME (So Others Might Eat).

 

Please deliver your premade chicken casserole to Lowell on Wednesday, Jan. 20, during morning carpool in a 9x12 aluminum pan. Pans are available in the Lowell lobbies.

 

If you have questions or want to help collect the casseroles in the morning, please email Colleen Robertson.