Earlier this month, Newtown Allies For Change (NAFC) Youth Group finished creating several bulletin boards with information on Juneteenth to hang at C.H. Booth Library, Newtown High School, and Newtown Middle School.

Juneteenth is a federal holiday celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the announcement of slavery ending in the United States. While the Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January 1, 1863 and stated "all persons held as slaves" within rebel states "are, and henceforward shall be free," enslaved people in Texas were not notified of their freedom until nearly two years later on June 19, 1865.

It was on that day the Union Army traveled under the leadership of General Geordon Granger to Galveston, Texas, where he announced to the people of Texas that all enslaved African Americans were free.

All of this information is detailed on the bulletin boards written and designed by NAFC Youth Group members.

The displays describes how slavery remained in Texas to maintain the plantation labor force, how Juneteenth significance has evolved over time into the modern event it is now, and how people celebrate it today. It also shows and explains the design behind the Juneteenth flag.

The project is an extension of group's larger goal, which is to give student in grades 5-8 who want to make the community a more welcoming place a chance to talk and work together.

NAFC Youth Group member Kenneth Miller said he believes Juneteenth is a big holiday that should be celebrated, with fellow member Lia Battaglia adding that people in the community aren't usually aware about it.

To that point, NAFC Youth Group member Luca Sheridan said he did not personally know what Juneteenth was a year or two ago. It was not until the youth group started talking about it, he said, that he learned how heavy the day can be for some people. Another youth group member, Brek McGrady, said he also knew nothing about Juneteenth until they talked about it and started working on the billboard.

Kenneth said a lot of their peers are "unaware" at best and "purposely neglectful and cruel" at worst.

"A lot of them don't really understand what Juneteenth is and don't know why they have this day off of school," Kenneth explained. "They just see it as a break."

Battaglia said willful ignorance about the topic is something the group talked about, and added that Juneteenth is not often taught in schools unless it's specifically for Black History Month.

"So unless someone does their own personal research — which oftentimes due to racism they're not going to do their own research — they're not going to know about these topics and these ... important pieces of black history," Battaglia explained.

What inspired them to create the bulletin boards, NAFC Youth Group member Sage Maddox said, is that they want people to know the depth of Juneteenth and why it's important.

Building off that, Kenneth said they set the displays at the Booth Library, NHS, and NMS because the NAFC Youth Group is entirely comprised of students and want their peers to be as aware as they can be about these certain events and holidays.

The group was also inspired by NHS social studies teacher Rachel Torres, as Kenneth said she is a teacher that focuses on sharing these specific aspects of black history in American history and American culture.

NAFC Vice Chair Nicole Maddox said she and Christine Miller, who launched the group, specifically asked Torres to come and talk about Juneteenth to the NAFC Youth Group. This was after the youth group had their own discussion about Juneteenth, according to Nicole.

Kenneth said the NAFC Youth Group did all the planning for the displays weeks beforehand, but spent two-to-three hours making it on the same day. On the writing side, the group compiled all of their ideas in a two-hour session before dividing the writing work amongst themselves.

"Our overall goal as a group ... really is to just make people as aware as they can be," Kenneth said. "We want to encourage our schools to bring this up in classes and not just a special appearance that happens once a month on the morning announcements."

The group is taking a break for the summer and will resume meeting in the fall once a month when school starts.

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To learn more about Newtown Allies For Change, visit newtownallies.org or send email to takeaction@newtownallies.org.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.