Share on FacebookTweetFollow us
Read More
Living Museum, Storyteller Highlight Black History Program at Barrington
Sarah Bolton, a fourth grade student at Barrington Elementary in the Hazelwood School District, portrays tennis star Serena Williams as part of the school’s living museum program for Black History Month.
Barrington Elementary in the Hazelwood School District had a host of honored guests at its Black History program – Jesse Owens, Joe Louis, Katherine Dunham, Eldrick ‘Tiger’ Woods and Rosa Parks – to name but a few.
The program featured a living museum where fourth-grade students represented a historical person of African American heritage. For weeks, they researched the person’s life and learned facts about them and their significance to American and world history, as well as their influence on society and culture.
Dressed in costume and posing as still as possible, like wax figures on display, the students stood in the cafeteria and waited patiently for the chance to tell their stories. Each student wore a small, black badge made of construction paper with the words ‘Press Here’ written in white crayon. They only spoke when the button was pressed. Before finishing their initial recitation, they said, “To learn more about me, press the button again and ask these questions.” Around their necks, they wore placards with a set of questions that they’d written for museum-goers to read in order to continue the experience.
The gym was packed with families and it was louder than any museum ever visited. Moms and dads took pictures with digital cameras and cell phones, and over and over again, the same statements were repeated, “They’re good!” and “This is great!”
Jesse Owens was portrayed by Quinten Eiland; Joe Louis by Eric Granderson; Katherine Dunham by Jessica Thompson; Eldrick ‘Tiger’ Woods by Alexis Turner and Rosa Parks by Tyler Adams. Other figures included Jackie Robinson, represented by George Robinson; Serena Williams by Sarah Bolton; Harriet Tubman by Autumn Aldridge; Frederick Douglass by Steven Burton and Dr. Charles Drew by Larry Coldon III. There were many more.
The living museum was only part of the evening’s program. Following the museum, storyteller Bobby Norfolk performed in the gymnasium. Norfolk has been a professional storyteller since 1975. He opened his performance with a rap version of The Three Billy Goats Gruff, which had the children in giggles because of his facial expressions, animated arm movements and dancing.
Norfolk said that he planned to tell a collage of stories to fit the audience since it ranged in age level from pre-school to adult. Story subjects included Anansi the Spider, of African folklore, the Underground Railroad and hip-hop fairy tales.
The event was coordinated by fourth grade teachers Kristi Arbetter, Kendra Vaughn, Dawn Kaufman and Jordan Portell, third grade teacher Sabrina Kneebone and librarian Serena Adams.
.
