Columbus Students Celebrate Black History Month and Women's History Month
On Friday, February 17th the students at Columbus Elementary were treated to an all-school assembly called "The Living Museum" in honor of Black History month and Women's History month, celebrated in February and March respectively.
Seven actors were invited to tell the stories of African Americans and/or women who had an impact on their generation. Figures portrayed included: Octavius Catto, a black educator and civil rights activist, Dorothy Vaughan, an African American mathematician who worked for NASA, Malcolm X, an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist, Lillian Smith, a writer and social critic of the Southern United States, "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, an American athlete and founder of the LPGA, who excelled in golf, basketball and track and field, Martha Dunham, a sculptor and Marin Alsop, an American conductor and violinist.
Children rotated to different locations around the school to listen as each actor came to life to tell their story. It was an exciting way to teach the children about important historical figures and enrich the students. Fifth grade teacher Christine Silidjian said "Our students were so engaged and really enjoyed each character." One student claimed "it was inspiring to listen to the stories of the people." Others told their teachers that they were happy that "the stories were of people they really did not know much about and they learned about new people."