African American History Month
Overview
For the past three years I have served as the lead coordinator for our school’s African-American History Month activities. In this position, I have chosen to have thematic celebrations of African-American Culture and History.
This year’s theme was African-Americans in film. The committee planned a series of events for the month highlighting African-Americans role in the film industry, both on and off-screen.
Activities
There were three main activities for this year’s African-American History Month. We began the month with a film festival. The film festival featured two films played over the course of the month durinig lunch. The two films were A Raisin in the Sun and The Wiz. Approximately 15-20 students attended the movie on a daily basis.
On February 21st, the planning team hosted a symposium entitled “African-Americans in the film industry”. The event featured Marcus Johnson, Pierre Stevens and Jaya Smith, all prominent African-Americans from the entertainment industry. They discussed their career arc and personal journey. The panelists displayed videos of their work, fielded questions from students, signed autographs and took pictures.
The final event was the annual assembly, which again was based on the theme of African-Americans in film. For this year’s assembly the planning team surveyed the student body to determine the students’ favorite actor, actress, director and movie. The assembly was entitled "The Oscars at Cochran" and featured: award presentations, student performances and clips from nominees.
Reflection
I believe that a precedent of successful programs has been established over the course of the past few years. The events are well-received by both faculty and students. It is my contention that mixing entertaining pieces with educational ones allows for our Black History Month to move beyond a cursory school event.
As a leader, I have had my conviction that school can be fun confirmed. Students readily participate in the event and often find the process of preparing and performing in an assembly to be an authentic learning experience. I believe the educational value of such moments can be overlooked but these personal moments are educational and support the growth of students.
ARTIFACTS
CPSEL
- CPSEL #2 -African-American history month activities support the school's efforts to provide an equitable learning space for all its students. The aim is to celebrate and highlight aspects of African-American History and Culture as to empower African-American students, while educating all students.
- CPSEL #6 - The programs and activities aim at providing the students with exposure to learning experiences brought in from the community. To this extent, the planning team has consistently utilized the month's activities to provide students with access to individuals and experiences from throughout the Greater Los Angeles area.
