The Kids Are...

Nope. It would be if we had a basketball homecoming game this month (pre covid).

Here the kids get daily lessons about black lives. Usually 1-3 people a day.

BSU is also giving out information on social media.

It is spirit week at our school. Although we go to Catholic school so it’s called “Catholic School Week”. There is no theme related to BHM. My daughter is only a kindergarten and they did a very good and age appropriate activity for MLK. I expect that she’ll come home with more work about BLM throughout the month but I wasn’t expecting it to be tied to Spirt Week.

We homeschool so I'm probably not your target audience for this question, but just having a spirit week feels awful. Especially after the year our country has had. There is such an opportunity for learning all the time, not just in this month. I used to be a classroom teacher before I homeschooled and I am sure I failed at doing enough. I would like to think I am doing a better job now with my daughter. We have read several books together during this school year that taught about anti-racism.

I only know one teacher who is doing something within their school all month. My DD's voice teacher is a choir teacher at a local private high school and every day this month he is highlighting 2-3 black artists he feels like have done or are doing big things in their particular field. He has shared singers, authors, dancers, poets, musicians, composers, actors, etc. He is sharing them in his classroom and on social media, which is where we are seeing it. In some cases, he has shared pretty personal stories of how these artists have impacted him in terms of how important it was to see someone who looks like him being successful in the arts. We are only on the 5th day of the month and my DD asked when she got up if he had posted already today. It is not his job to teach me or my daughter, but I am so grateful that he is. I would love to hear what other people are doing.

Spirit week isn't a thing here.

We have quite a few activities tied to Black History Month this year. No "spirit week" - That's basically Homecoming week or a week in mid-spring for when spring sports usually start (but that's all full chaos right now).

Our equity team created an interactive calendar highlighting the contributions of Black Americans throughout history, featuring figures most students may not have learned about. Basically, going beyond MLK and Rosa Parks. Each weekday features a different Black American, and weekends have resources to read, such as the history of Black History Month, links to the NMAAHC, poetry foundation, photo galleries, etc. Teachers in every subject are asked to highlight at least one figure per week, as relates to their content area.

We are doing an African-American read in with another school, where students are invited to read/perform works by Black writers, historical and current, or to create and perform their own.

We're hosting a leadership summit for African American students, bringing in community and business resources/speakers.

Our Black Student Union groups in all of our schools are co-hosting a mindfulness painting event - kind of like a paint-along.

Our Black Student Union is holding an art/poetry/music showcase/competition, inviting students to submit works of art inspired by unsung heroes of Black history.

Our district also has a parent series where we bring in speakers, and there's a featured speaker discussing student wellness and the impact of race and culture.

This is the most we've ever done for Black History Month, TBH. I have complicated feelings about the "month" idea, because Black history is American history, but until we fully embrace and include the contributions and impact of Black Americans throughout the curriculum in a real and meaningful way (and we're working on it), I see the need.

We have a student giving a 1-2 minute history of an important black person during morning announcements, but that’s it, as far as I know.

My kids have been out of high school for a long time so I can't speak to what is happening this month in the high schools.

Perhaps somewhat relatedly... We have a very strong group of parents fighting for Ethnic Studies curriculum to be mandatory in our district, a grad requirement. A group of what I consider to be ultra-conservative racists is trying everything they can think of to challenge this plan that has already been approved by the school board.

It is Spirit Week at all the schools this week, too, coinciding with the 100th day of school.

A Spirit Week usually consists of dressing up for a certain theme each day. Some common ones include pajama day, nerd day, college day, Disney day, cowboy day, specific colors, etc. On the 100th day of school some schools do dress like you’re 100 (so kids dye their hair white and dress like little old ladies and men) or wear your 100, so they’ll wear a shirt that has 100 of something on it (100 buttons, 100 dots, 100 bows).

Today was Super Bowl day, so you were supposed to wear a shirt of the team you’re rooting for in the Super Bowl.

I am not currently in school right now as the district we are housed in is in remote learning, but I get the elementary school letters from the principal. Since the principal we have now took over the school has done BHM studies in each grade, and it gets more in-depth each year. There are some very dedicated teachers who spearhead it and I was pleased to see that they are making it a bigger priority this year even with remote learning.

Ruby Bridges is usually the focus for the younger kids, but the older kids each have to do their biography project on a different Black person and they have several days where they do presentations to their class about who they chose,
I learn so much from reading the work when it is hung in the hallway. Some of the 5th graders also make presentations to the younger grades, which the kids just love since 5th graders are held in such regard.

There is a school wide “dream” project as well.

I know it isn’t perfect, but I will say that I think the teachers do a really good job.


Regarding spirit week, here it is the week before Spring Break. Which is March or April.