Throughout February, ACS students participated in a variety of special activities for Black History Month. Hallway bulletin boards were decorated in honor of influential African Americans like Harriet Tubman and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Classroom lessons and projects highlighted historical contributions of African Americans as well as the social accomplishments of those who led the civil rights movement. Students in Mrs. Coates sixth grade history class discussed turn-of-the-century discrimination and the development of Jim Crow laws in the South while her eighth graders studied landmark Supreme Court cases, like Brown vs. Board of Education, which led to the end of school segregation.
Elementary and upper school students welcomed special guest speaker Vena R. Noel-Jackson who spoke in each chapel on Friday. Her lively presentations covered the origins of Black History Month, significant contributions of African Americans throughout history, and encouragement about God’s plan for creating unity from diversity. Using examples from her own accomplishments as a runner, Mrs. Jackson reminded the ACS family that despite our differences – age, race, ability, etc. – we can all run for the same prize in following Jesus. “My Prayer is that we celebrate our uniqueness by the power of the love of Jesus,” she said. “Whatever you do, do it all for the Glory of God.”