Celebrating Black History Month | A2Schools Podcast | Week of February 20, 2023

In this week's podcast, Dr. Swift and Andrew Cluley talk with Skyline teachers Kathy Mackercher and Tonya Whitehorn, and Eberwhite teacher Stephanie Burnstein.

We discuss a pair of Black History Month events they are leading in the AAPS. At Skyline African-American humanities students will share their annual Black History Presentation, "Be the Dream" on March 2nd.  At Eberwhite, a Periodic Table of Black History serves as a way to amplify the voices of African Americans from the past and present.

We also discuss the importance of teaching black history in February and all year long. 

In AAPS good news we celebrate FutureStars 2023 and the Pioneer A Cappella Choir performing in a concert celebrating the music of Stacey Gibbs.

Transcript

:05

Andrew Cluley

Welcome to the A2 Schools Podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Cluley, Director of Communications here in the Ann Arbor Public Schools. I'm joined, as always, our superintendent. Dr. Swift, thanks for being here today.

:15

Jeanice Swift

Well, good afternoon, Andrew. It's great to be here.

:17

Andrew Cluley

And we also have three teachers from the Ann Arbor Public Schools. It's great to get the teachers in on the A2 Schools Podcast from Skyline High School. Tonya Whitehorn is here and Kathy Mackercher, thanks for joining us. 

:30

Tonya Whitehorn and Kathy Mackercher

Thank you for having us.

:32

Andrew Cluley

And from Eberwhite Elementary, we have third grade teacher Stephanie Burnstein.

:36

Stephanie Burnstein

Thank you for having me.

:37

Andrew Cluley

So, we thought that since we're still in the middle of February and that's Black History Month, that we would focus in on a couple of events that are representative of some of the things that are going on across the district this month in honor of Black History Month. And so that's why we've chosen these teachers.

:56

Jeanice Swift

You know, Andrew, we always feel it's important every day of our instructional year to emphasize the contributions and the work of African-Americans in our country and in the world. What I especially enjoy about February, though, is our teachers and teams just dial it up to a level of celebration. And so, what I'm excited about for today is for these teachers.

1:24

Jeanice Swift

You've chosen them because they're doing some really amazing work, and that's part of an overall just overall effort to celebrate this month, we'll be sharing more about that at our next board meeting.

1:40

Andrew Cluley

So, we'll start at the secondary level with Skyline High School. Every year, the students in the African-American humanities classes get together. They create a black history presentation. I know that this year the theme is “Be the Dream.” I'm hoping that Tanya and Kathy, you can sound a little bit on the theme of this year's presentation.

2:01

Kathy Mackercher

Good afternoon, everyone. This is Kathy. And basically, we look at the local level first and see what their themes are going to be at U of M, at Eastern and then we look at the national theme and we present those to the students and they help us choose what they want for this year.

2:19

Andrew Cluley

And so, they chose to “Be the Dream.” I'm assuming that this is tied to MLK, but is there anything more specific about it that is in the dream?

2:30

Tonya Whitehorn

Yeah, this is Tonya. And so, we looked at, when we looked at what the University of Michigan was doing and what Eastern have for their specific Martin Luther King Junior celebrations. We wanted to not only choose a theme, but we also wanted to empower students. And so, we took a look at, we looked at old video clips of Martin Luther King Jr speech and some other lesser known speeches of his.

3:04

Tonya Whitehorn

And the students really wanted to feel like they had a choice in what their lives look like and how they want to enter the world. And so, we came up with this “Be the Dream.” So, it's not only a challenge to students, but adults also who might be looking at the program that we do have some power over our lives.

3:29

Andrew Cluley

So, it's great that it's both the challenge aspect, but also that empowering aspect, which I know is great message for the kids to get as well. What kind of things are people going to see if they either get to attend the event in person or if they're just going to watch it, the video of it after the fact.

3:48

Kathy Mackercher

So, every aspect of the show is student created, including backstage work. They choose the lighting, they run, you know, all the mikes. And then students have been working on for the last month or so different segment. So, it might be poetry, dance, step, art, history. And I think we've covered everything, right? So, and then they also will run the entire show from the beginning to the end. They're the ones at the podium speaking, introducing each other and celebrating together.

4:25

Jeanice Swift

You know what I love about your show? I've had the opportunity to see parts of it in the past, is it really does raise that learning to the level of empowerment of students. And when your students have been at the board to share parts of that with us, I'm always just amazed at how much they own their voices.

4:48

Jeanice Swift

And because of that work that you all have set them up to do, how powerful their voices really are. And so I just wanted to call that out as really much more than observing a Black History Month. It's a really, to me, a transformational experience, not only for the students involved, but for all of us who are fortunate to get to see that show.

5:16

Tonya Whitehorn

Yes, I think at the you know, at the end of it, the students are really proud of themselves. We are so rewarded with seeing them smile. Sometimes there are tears at the end of the show and they really feel for some of them, the first time they feel good about something that’s school related that they've produced, that they've written.

5:40

Tonya Whitehorn

And you know, because humanities is art, English, music, dance, so we try to incorporate every part of what humanities is into the show. We tell the kids, the kids, this is a theme and you have to figure out how to communicate that theme to an audience of students and showcase what you've learned in the classroom. You're just not here to perform.

6:07

Tonya Whitehorn

You're here to educate the student body. So, show them what you've learned. And so, at the end of each show, they feel really good about themselves and what they've been able to produce, and it's really rewarding.

6:20

Andrew Cluley

Do you see students that just completely come out of the shell where that's, you know, you wouldn't expect to hear much from them and then all of a sudden you give them this opportunity and they just shine.

6:30

Tonya Whitehorn

Yes, we do. As a matter of fact, we do, I don't want to say we, we strongly encourage students. I was going to use the word push. But no, we encourage students to come out of that shell because a lot of times, especially the students who say that they are quiet, a lot of times that quietness is because their self-esteem is low.

6:56

Tonya Whitehorn

And so, we say, well, just do one thing in the show. You know, you don't have to, you know, perform. Maybe you can manage backstage. Maybe you can make sure all of our mikes are active. Maybe you can make sure that you're marking the stage, so students know where they stand. So, getting them to be an active participant in their learning and and feeling good about themselves. So, yes, we see them come out of the shell, but we also try to encourage them to go beyond what they've done.

7:32

Kathy Mackercher

And if you take those students, for example, that Tonya shared with us, many of them end up learning the script. They memorize it and then they give feedback to the other students and they'll say, you know, I think your poem needs some shorter lines here, or you might want to incorporate this in the background to make your speech more meaningful. And all of that just seems to come naturally. But if we had them try in the classroom, they wouldn't happen. So, it's wonderful. It's a wonderful experience all around for them and for us.

8:05

Jeanice Swift

To me, that's the highest purpose of learning, is to find that that passion and to bring together a group of individuals and have them produce something together that not only transforms them, but really is powerful and trans formative for the audience and I can say that it does that for me. And I know for others who who've been a part of it. So, thank you for that.

8:34

Andrew Cluley

And I can only just add that if you get an opportunity to watch the video, I encourage you to do so. I have not seen any of this year's performance, but I have seen those in the past. And it I don't believe it's just the kids that end up with some tears on their face from time to time.

8:51

Andrew Cluley

So, we also want to talk about the Black History Month efforts at the lower levels. So that's why we've got Ms. Burnstein here with us to talk about a great presentation that's up on the walls at Eberwhite Elementary, a periodic table of black history. Can you talk, Ms. Bernstein, about where the idea came from?

9:13

Stephanie Burnstein

Sure. I did not create this idea. It came from two librarians from Lakeland, Florida. In 2019 they were trying to come up with a way to spark conversations about Black History Month through the lens of all these voices that may have not had an opportunity to be amplified in the past or even current African-Americans who are making their mark and making our country a better place.

9:40

Stephanie Burnstein

So, they came up with this periodic table and they had such an impact, and it went viral that they offered a lot of their pieces for free. So, we took their template to create our own periodic table. And then we found QR codes from another teacher and then added the missing one. So, we put all those missing pieces together to create a final periodic table that is set up and in a similar way where it's color-coded categories.

10:13

Stephanie Burnstein

For example, there are activists, actors, athletes, scientists, entrepreneurs, people who were famous firsts in different categories. And for each individual there's a QR code that if you go up, you can pop into their biography. And the idea behind this was a way to connect our community to something bigger than what each of the classes was doing on their own.

10:41

Stephanie Burnstein

So, it's part of our ongoing month wide activities, starting with fourth and fifth grade musical. The Quilt Speaks that Jeffrey Willets, our wonderful music teacher, had the students perform, and then a lot of the classrooms are doing biography pieces through February and March. But I do want to speak to something you said earlier, Dr. Swift, which was that this doesn't, February is not the only time where we consider black history.

11:14

Stephanie Burnstein

And in third grade it starts for us as an ongoing conversation throughout the class and throughout the year. It starts with Constitution Day at the beginning of the year, where we talk about a famous painting of the Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence, and we ask the kids to look at the picture and tell us what they notice and what they don't, what's in the picture and what's not in the picture.

11:43

Stephanie Burnstein

And that is the start of the conversation we have all year about underrepresentation and why representation matters, whether it's in politics or in the books that we read or in the people we see in our community. And so, this is a way for us to spotlight and focus on providing voices, like I said before, for those who may not we may not have heard of before.

12:08

Dr. Jeanice K. Swift

That's wonderful. Kathy, I just am so impressed with third graders, you know, really thinking critically in the way that you've described and the super learning that occurs when the whole school, elementary school, comes together around an endeavor beyond what's going on in their individual classrooms. I always think those are seminal teachable moments.

12:33

Andrew Cluley

And I got to say, this periodic table seems like the type of thing that was probably an educational experience for the adults as they come into the building as well, that there's probably individuals on that table that they may not have heard of. And what, what's the reaction you've gotten so far this month in terms of parents or staff members or anyone coming into the school and seeing it? And what's the reaction that's happening.

12:58

Stephanie Burnstein

After they say, oh, wow. It's right in when you walk in the front foyer. It's right there and I will see people popping out their phones to scan a QR. There are some Rec and Ed classes there in the evenings, and I've seen parents waiting outside for their kids outside the gym with their cameras out. So, it's been a really there's been a really positive reaction.

13:20

Stephanie Burnstein

I've learned things from it. And our next step, there are many teachers who helped put this up and put it together. Our next step with this is we were thinking, oh, we should have the kids do the research and create our own periodic table where it becomes what you're doing at Skyline, where it becomes more student led and student centered. And so, we're hoping this will be the catalyst to that.

13:43

Jeanice Swift

And it's back to I recall what Tonya said earlier about you're not just here to perform, you're here to educate. And so, I just love that that our students are not only learning as consumers, but they're learning to model and to teach others. And isn't that life learning? And we all know that as teachers that we don't really learn something until about the 29th time we've taught it. You know, that that some and actually every time we teach something, I think we learn also, don't we. Yeah.

14:20

Andrew Cluley

So, we as I said, we've highlighted just two of the many, many events that are going on across the district in honor of Black History Month. But just the importance of making February highlighting black history. But doing it really throughout the year as well. What is the, you know, the value for all students when we do that.

14:40

Stephanie Burnstein

At the at the elementary level, I think it provides them with a way to contextually analyze the world around them and learn how to question and learn how to really think deeply about what they're learning, what they're not learning. And it provides them with the scaffold to kind of build on that. And if I could say just to help them learn, question everything and wonder about it, and you can then be agents of change.

15:10

Stephanie Burnstein

So, for me, I think of it as this is kind of a gateway into your job as a citizen and social activism by thinking about your own role in that.

15:23

Tonya Whitehorn

One of my goals I have, like I have two goals for every class. One is that our students be able to look in the mirror and begin to love what they see, no matter what images are shown back at them. That's the one goal. The second goal is our students began to humanize people that, especially marginalized people, that we move from beyond numbers on a page or photos in a in a history book that you began to see people and that you don't, that you don't other them.

16:14

Tonya Whitehorn

And so, when we begin to uncover stories about people who don't look like us, that don't believe like us, that don't love like us, that we can truly understand that there doesn't have to be one way in this world and you need to be understanding and willing to listen. And so that second goal is to always humanize, get our kids to begin to humanize others, and begin to love themselves along the way.

16:52

Jeanice Swift

Wow. That is a powerful statement. And really, it's always been important. You guys have been doing this work for a few years, many years, I might add. I'm going to tell you, there's never been a more important time for that message. And we've always talked about mirrors and windows. But you added to that, Tonya, with that, with the humanizing factor in being sure that we don't other because we've learned to open the doors, not to close the doors. So, thank you.

17:34

Andrew Cluley

That is definitely a good message. And that will, speaking of the word good, will take us to the good news segment here on the A2 Schools Podcast. And in good news, we're going to celebrate a couple of recent performances by students. We'll start with Future Stars 2023. Every year, the Pioneer Theatre Guild puts on this talent show for young high school students across Ann Arbor to show off their talents, and they were able to get back into Schreiber Auditorium for the first time in quite a few years.

18:09

Andrew Cluley

So that's a big excitement. And there were over 20 acts that participated this year. So that's a good number. And the overall winners were Pioneer Juniors Lucy Dineen and Teddy Tolbert.

18:22

Future Stars Lucy Dineen and Teddy Tolbert Singing

18:48

Andrew Cluley

So, congratulations to them and congratulations to everyone else who participated in future stars.

18:53

Jeanice Swift

Congratulations, Lucy and Teddy. Just rock stars. I mean, every year, just the winners and all the participants of that at that event are just so impressive.

19:07

Andrew Cluley

And the other good news that I want to highlight is the Pioneer A Cappella Choir getting the chance to perform at Hill Auditorium as part of the Psalms, Hymns and Spirituals, the Music of Stacy Gibbs Concert that took place, I think, last week.

19:23

Pioneer A Cappella singing

19:34

Andrew Cluley

And they were the only high school group that got to participate. There were groups from the University of Michigan, Oakland University and Wayne State University, and then the Pioneer A Cappella group got to perform, which is just a quite an honor. And of course, that concert was in part a black history event as they were celebrating the music of Stacy Gibbs.

19:55

Jeanice Swift

So, congratulations to Pioneer A Cappella and Director Steven Lorenz, just an amazing group. Now. I really love to see the recording of that when also Andrew if you can make that happen.

20:11

Andrew Cluley

All right. Well, I just want to thank all three of our teachers that join us today, Tonya Whitehorn. Thank you for being with us today.

20:19

Tonya Whitehorn

Thank you.

20:19

Andrew Cluley

Kathy Mackercher, thank you for joining us.

20:21

Kathy Mackercher

Thank you.

020:22

Andrew Cluley

And Stephanie Burnstein, thank you very much for joining as well.

20:25

Stephanie Burnstein

Thank you.

20:27

Andrew Cluley

And, Dr. Swift, thank you, as always, for being with us.

20:29

Jeanice Swift

Yes. Thank you all. You made it so special to be here today. We brag about black history activities going on in the district, but how much better to have it straight from you, straight from the classroom. And we'll be gathering up some video and getting ready to share at our next board meeting the highlights. But you guys are right out there making it happen. Thank you.

20:55

Andrew Cluley

And thank you for listening to the A2 Schools Podcast. As always, if you have any questions about the Ann Arbor Public Schools, the first place to go is our website a2schools.org. If you have a topic that you'd like to have us discuss on a future episode of the A2 Schools podcast, don't hesitate to email me at communications@a2schools.org. And thanks again once more for listening to this week's edition of the A2 Schools Podcast.