Blake Wilson served as MC and reported on Calvin Peete.
When it came time to plan presentations for Black History Month, our after school students started with one of the basic questions of adolescence: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Answers ranged from writer to architect to scientist to investor to pro golfer to NBA star to fashion designer. Their next step was to research these areas of interest and identify African Americans who had succeeded in these fields. Once our young men identified a role model, they did extensive research on their subjects’ life stories, with a focus on the character traits that had helped them excel.
On Wednesday night, after weeks of preparation, they presented their work to their families and peers at The Bridge Golf Learning Center. Xavier Partee talked about writer Amiri Baraka and gave his interpretation of a poem. Tariq Washington reported on astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Jason Johnson chose zoologist Charles Henry Turner. Christopher Chatman’s look at the life of NBA star Kyrie Irving included a video clip showing the science behind his exceptional acceleration. Zion Smith, Blake Wilson and Josiah Yoba talked about pioneering golfer Calvin Peete and showed the audience how a broken elbow from childhood influenced his unique swing.
The presentations were informative and entertaining, but black history wasn’t the only thing on display. In the end, those in the audience learned as much about the confidence, character and intellectual formation of our students as they did about the subjects of their presentations.
Xavier Partee reported on writer Amiri Baraka.
Juan Cortorreal talked about Otis Boykin, an engineer who invented a control unit for the pacemaker.
Christopher Chatman’s presentation on Kyrie Irving included a video.
Alejandro Martinez, left, and Khaleel Jackson teamed up for a report on Vivien Thomas, the surgical technician who developed procedures used to treat blue baby syndrome in the 1940s.