BY DEMETRIA LA VON JOHNSON
Even though it's a national holiday, Black History Month doesn't always get noticed. So Wagner decided to make Black History Month fun with a door decorating contest. Many teachers and their classes entered the contest, but one particular door caught the eye of the viewers. English teacher Kyla Mora's fifth period class won first place for their door design, "What Happens To A Dream Deferred," inspired by the Langston Hughes poem.
"Black History Month doesn't really get recognition, so we wanted to do something cool," sophomore Kiyan Harris said.
What made the door different was its past/present concept.
"We wanted to really show that black history isn't over," Mora said. "It's happening now. We have this sometimes safe, sanitized view of the Civil Rights movement, and everyone accepts that Martin Luther King was a great man. It's just understood. But if he was alive today, leading protests in Ferguson, I think many people would have a very different view of him. Because he wouldn't be this safe historical figure. But this year, so much has happened in black history! So we contrasted past events with present events that were startlingly similar, to show how far things have come, and how much change is still needed. Something good, something bad."
The design contrasted the passing of the Civil Rights Act with its recent invalidation, for example, as well as Emmett Till with Trayvon Martin, or Billie Holliday and Beyonce Knowles.
Second prize was awarded to Ms. Carter's class, and third prize to Ms. Tabberts, for their handprint and Freedom Quilt designs respectively.
Even though it's a national holiday, Black History Month doesn't always get noticed. So Wagner decided to make Black History Month fun with a door decorating contest. Many teachers and their classes entered the contest, but one particular door caught the eye of the viewers. English teacher Kyla Mora's fifth period class won first place for their door design, "What Happens To A Dream Deferred," inspired by the Langston Hughes poem.
"Black History Month doesn't really get recognition, so we wanted to do something cool," sophomore Kiyan Harris said.
What made the door different was its past/present concept.
"We wanted to really show that black history isn't over," Mora said. "It's happening now. We have this sometimes safe, sanitized view of the Civil Rights movement, and everyone accepts that Martin Luther King was a great man. It's just understood. But if he was alive today, leading protests in Ferguson, I think many people would have a very different view of him. Because he wouldn't be this safe historical figure. But this year, so much has happened in black history! So we contrasted past events with present events that were startlingly similar, to show how far things have come, and how much change is still needed. Something good, something bad."
The design contrasted the passing of the Civil Rights Act with its recent invalidation, for example, as well as Emmett Till with Trayvon Martin, or Billie Holliday and Beyonce Knowles.
Second prize was awarded to Ms. Carter's class, and third prize to Ms. Tabberts, for their handprint and Freedom Quilt designs respectively.