Middle Gate Students Took A Walk Through African American History

By Shannon Hicks

Nineteen famous African Americans could be found for a few hours at Middle Gate School on February 16. The fourth grade students in Dina Mastroni’s class offered a Living Biography Museum in the school’s cafeteria, inviting their fellow schoolmates to visit the temporary museum and learn about people who have played important roles in history. Also invited to the special two-hour event were the students’ parents and school personnel.

When they walked into the cafeteria Friday morning, museum visitors found themselves face to face with Ray Charles (portrayed by Katelyn Zimmerman), Mabel Fairbanks (Kylie Gallagher), Bo Jackson (Timmy Drotar), Mae Jemison (Amy McGurk), Pelé (Genti Limani), Jesse Owens (Colin Reilly), Rosa Parks (Sophia Matsis), Jackie Robinson (Meghan Powers), Wilma Rudolph (Hannah Bartlett), Ruby Bridges (Julie Smith), Malcolm X (Hanna Ahmaripour), Madam CJ Walker (Emily Brinkmann), Venus Williams (Brooke Hadgraft), and Tiger Woods (Arnav Singh).

Benjamin Bradley and Martin Luther King Jr were also represented with portraits and setups, but their portrayers — Michael Ziluck and Darryl Silverlieb, respectively — were each absent from school on Friday.

Museum guests were encouraged to visit each museum station, where students — dressed for their roles and backed by props and portraits (that each student had done of their famous person) — would come to life once they were tapped on their shoulders. The young actors then shared their famous subject’s life story, including childhood experiences, why they were famous, when they died, and other information.

The project started more than a month ago when, in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr Day in January, Ms Mastroni’s students created a short skit about MLK and his life.

“They loved getting into character and worked very hard to make their skits as real and believable as they possible could,” Ms Mastroni said last week. After performing the MLK skit for the third and fourth grade classes at Middle Gate and receiving positive feedback, said Ms Mastroni, she decided to maintain the enthusiasm for Black History Month.

“The kids learned a lot about how difficult life was for African Americans back then, and we had so many genuine discussions about the way that they were treated and how hard it was for them to remain strong and committed to their cause,” said the teacher. The students also told Ms Mastroni, she said, that “even though they knew it wasn’t real, it still wasn’t easy for them to be treated that way” during the skit performances.

When Ms Mastroni asked her students what they had learned as a result of their skit, they told her they learned what it was like to live in someone else’s shoes. When the students also told her that their favorite part was bringing their character to life, “that’s when my light bulb went on,” Ms Mastroni said.

So for one month, the children prepared a Living Biography Museum. Each student had to pick a famous African American to research. Surprisingly, each of Ms Mastroni’s 19 students came up with his or her own choice; there were no duplicate selections.

This was the first time Ms Mastroni had tried this project with a class, and she was as excited as the students were during the days leading to the museum.

“They have been so creative,” she said. “Each and every project deadline has been met, and they knock my socks off on a daily basis.”