HORSHAM — To honor all the contributions African-Americans have made in America, Hatboro-Horsham schools celebrated them through music, writing and literature for Black History Month.
Hatboro-Horsham High School: Black History Month Concert
Hatboro-Horsham High School held its third annual Black History Month Concert on February 15 at 7 p.m.
The high school’s three choirs: the Concert Choir, Madrigals and Women’s Chamber sang four genres: traditional African-American spiritual, which is deeply rooted in Black and American culture; traditional world African music originating from Africa; non-idiomatic works, meaning that it is not tied to a specific cultural genre; and traditional gospel music.
Professional baritone singer, Brian Major, joined the high school as an artist in residence February 13-15, which was made possible through a grant from the Hatboro-Horsham Educational Foundation (HHEF). An accomplished recitalist and concert artist, Major recently made his debut in The Metropolitan Opera as Baron Douphol in La traviata and as Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff with Maryland Lyric Opera. He is known for his velvety voice and commanding stage presence, and has won numerous awards and honors on the competition circuit.
Leading up to the concert, Major worked with choirs as well as one-on-one with individual singers or smaller groups. He also performed with the choirs during the concert, featured on several songs as a soloist.
Similar to previous years, the three choirs performed two songs that are iconic to the civil rights movement, opening with “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known as the “African American National Anthem” and closing with “We Shall Overcome,” the anthem of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
“It’s been a true joy to be warmly welcomed by the community,” said Charlie Masters, who started his role as choral director earlier this school year. “I’m excited to continue building relationships with students and the community. Collaboration and care among the students allow us to move forward in a lot of ways.”
Keith Valley Middle School: Music, Literature and Writing
At Keith Valley Middle School, music teachers created a “Famous Black Musicians” bulletin board to highlight Black musicians. The display includes each musician’s photograph, short biography and a QR code that links to one of their songs.
In students’ music classes, they interacted with the display by choosing three musicians from the bulletin board to learn about. They created their own playlist of Black musicians and other composers.
In social studies, eighth grade students highlighted positive achievements of African Americans each week in February. Each week had a different focus: political/civil rights leaders, athletes and entertainers, and artists, poets and writers. Students researched a person for each week’s theme and presented the information to the class using a discussion board.
Seventh graders completed declaration speeches, featuring famous speeches from Black Americans such as Amanda Gorman, Barack Obama, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Donovan Livingston. Additionally, sixth grade students are completing a 3D research-based flyer of an inspirational African American.
In the math department, sixth grade students celebrated Black History Month by creating and simplifying numerical expressions related to an important fact describing a life event or accomplishment of a famous, Black historian. Students then wrote a few sentences describing the event or accomplishment of their assigned historian. The next day, classes facilitated a Gallery Walk through the other sixth grade math classrooms to record data about the historical figures their classmates researched. Back in their classrooms, students reconvened as a class to share their findings.
Blair Mill and Simmons Elementary Schools: National African American Read-In
Blair Mill and Simmons elementary schools participated in the National African American Read-In, sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English.
Every February, the Council encourages schools, bookstores, community and professional organizations, and interested citizens to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month by hosting an African American Read-In.
At Blair Mill Elementary, older and younger students gathered with their buddy classes to read aloud books featuring African American authors. As part of Blair Mill’s continued celebration of literacy, classes also honored the tradition of passing down stories with a visit from a storyteller to share stories from Black folklore.
Since 2019, Simmons Elementary School has been participating in the National African American Read-In. During the week of February 13, Simmons Elementary School celebrated this event by pairing up different grade levels and having students read and share books such as, “A Pride of African Tales” by Donna Washington, “The Little Match Girl” by Jerry Pinkney and “Dancing in the Wings” by Debbie Allen.
Crooked Billet Elementary: Past, Present and Future Display
At Crooked Billet Elementary School, the whole school took part to create the “Celebrating Black History Month” interactive display in the rotunda featuring past, present and future panels. All month long, any student or classroom was invited to add pictures, quotes, or pieces of writing to any of the three collages.
“This is student-centered and gives all classes a chance to add something to one of the panels,” said Crooked Billet Principal Kelli Sendel.
Teachers are leading individual activities in their classrooms focusing on Black History Month including reading, writing biographies and reading literature. Past and present famous Black Americans are displayed on digital display boards throughout the school. Finally, the school showcased Black History Month on its video morning announcements.
Hallowell Elementary School: African American Art and History Museum
To learn more about African American historical figures, Hallowell Elementary School students focused on four main components: exposure (to African American historical figures), research (learning more about various African American historical figures), writing (poetry, informational, or opinion writing), and art (painting portraiture or a symbolic painting associated with their African American historical figure). The exposure and research helped students with the writing and art component for the African American Art and History Museum.
“I want students to learn more about African Americans and all that Black people have contributed to the richness of life in America,” said third grade teacher Kendrah Butler. “I also hope they learn how to connect with writing, how to connect with art, how to connect with music, and give them an opportunity to express themselves.”
Black History Month kicked off with an assembly featuring the Universal African Drum and Dance Ensemble. They performed and talked about how African music has influenced American music. This assembly was made possible thanks to a grant through the Hallowell Elementary Home and School Association.
On February 15, classes had a virtual artist in residence lesson with Kimpedro Rodriguez and Ted Waters, teaching art lessons with the students in preparation for the Schoolwide Painting Day.
Students then participated in Schoolwide Painting Day to paint portraits of the African American historical figures they researched and wrote about, or paint a scene of the African American historical figures’ life. All of the art work and students’ accompanied writing pieces will be featured in the Art Museum. Students will be able to view the museum during the school day and the community is invited to the Art Museum and Jazz Night on February 28 at 6 p.m.
Prior to the viewing of the museum, families will have an opportunity to attend a 30-40 minute jazz concert. Joining Butler will be drummer Kimpedro Rodriguez, bassist Nimrod Speaks, and trumpet players Marcell Bellinger and Paul Giess. This month-long program was the fulfillment of a grant written by Butler-Waters from the Hatboro-Horsham Education Foundation (HHEF).
