today at the Accelerated School, we commemorated Dr. King all morning in a special way. Each of the elementary school classrooms had set up and planned activities for other classes to participate in. Eash class rotated to 3 different classrooms during 'periods' so that they could do the activities and see what other classes had done. They take the day very seriously at TAS. Not only is the school itslef is on MLK Blvd., but the people who teach and work there are either former activists from the civil rights era or currently involved in social justice activism and advocacy. A sizabel portion of the faculty and administration is African American. Not to mention about 40 percent of the student population.
Anyway, I had the pleasure of taking my class to three of the other elementary school teacher's rooms. It was a very fun and interesting day....and it made me so glad that Dr King and his legacy were being taught and engaged with in a meaningful way, even with kindergardners. It was not tokenism at all. The teachers took it very seriously, yet they presented their material in ways that made Dr. king's message very applicable to their lives. I was so proud when the boys in my class repeatedly rasied their hands to say things like "Dr. King talked to different kinds of people to make the world a better place" and "He said 'Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we're free at last'"
They all really have loved reading about and writing about Dr. King, and understanding what he was about. It is relevant to them, and they know it.
In one class, we played a game where we walked in Dr King's 'footsteps' (outlines of footprints taped to the floor) and each time the kids stepped on a certain color paper, they would either have to answer a question about Dr. King, say somethign nice to someone in the class, repeat a section of the I Have a Dream speech. In another class we read a book called "The Peace Book" which is really popular at TAS, and deals with themes of social responsibilty and justice, but in a way that young kids can understand. Then each of the kids thought of what peace means to them, and made a page of their own 'Peace Book' Maria in my class wrote "Peace is when I love my family" and drew a beautiful picture of her family. Adriana wrote "Peace is listening to Dr Martin Luther King Jr., teachers and your mom and dad" In another class, a teacher read the book "Martin Luther King's Big Words" a really cool book abotu his life and message.....in such an engaging way, I love these teachers and how they are able to spark childrens' love and interest in things that they themselves are passionate about.
While I sat behind the kids listening to all the stuff, I found that the questions that the teachers were asking were striking me, too. One asked our class "What can you do to make the world a better place?" As the kids raised their hands and said things like dont fight on the playground, help people when they fall down, help your mom wash the dishes...i thought that this is one of the main questions in my life right now, in the internships i am a part of.
What can I do to make the world a better place?
But what is not often taught about MLKJ in the school is that he was a man of God,a prophet who was hated by many people in his own land, one whose message they ultimately could not accept (and still dont)
Maybe the question should be What did God do through Martin Luther King to make the world a better place? To bring the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.....
In the memory of Dr King, his beautiful life and prophetic message, God's work and walk continues in South Central LA
No comments:
Post a Comment