By Mairen Brown

Black History Month, founded by Carter G. Woodson, writer of Miseducation of the Negro, began as a week. It was selected to be held the second week of February, encompassing the birthdays of American scholar Fredrick Douglass and the 16th President of the United States, Abe Lincoln. Over time, it was decided that one week was not enough to celebrate and highlight Black stories, Black struggle, and Black history. Thus, Black History Month was born.

To celebrate Black History Month at North Springs, the North Springs’ Black Student Association puts on an annual showcase. Over the years it has ranged from highlighting various forms of artistry and creativity from the community, but this year, the president of BSA, Myla Brown, decided that it was time to shine an extra special light on the Black excellence and highlight specially from North Springs students – a big shift from previous years.

To attend the show, teachers were told they could opt to sign up their 2B class to attend. As it was not a schoolwide assembly nor a pep rally, they were not required to do so. However, I have always wondered why a pep rally to highlight athletics or a STEM event in the gym can be held –and cut down substantial amounts of class time — but a presentation of Black history performed, planned, and presented by North Springs student is not. Not only the Black history month showcase — events like the Multicultural performance or Dance shows during the day is not mandatory, either. Teachers must face a choice of prioritizing student culture and celebrations that build community over their scheduled routine to stay on track for academics. To get a better understanding of the situation, and the challenges teachers face when making these decisions, I decided to ask a few North Springs teachers about their decision to attend or not attend the program.

I spoke with a World Language teacher who brought their 2B class to the showcase and mentioned that they “chose it because the showcase helps build positive bonds of empathy and understanding between everyone, no matter what their heritage or ethnicity might be.” They made it clear that they were “absolutely” aware of the showcase. When I asked if they were worried about their class getting off track, they said, “The showcase was a learning experience, well worth the time taken.”

To understand the difficult decision that a few teachers made not to come, I also interviewed a science teacher and a literature teacher. The science chose not to attend the showcase but gave their students the option to watch with another class. When I asked why they chose not to attend, they said, “I asked my [academic] team about the possibility, and the decision was to not attend because that day we were covering new and very rigorous material in [the class].”

The literature teacher I spoke with had a similar reason. They did not want to risk their students being far behind and unprepared for their EOC courses. This teacher did mention that they made the time every year in the past to attend the showcase, but this year it just was not possible.

The science teacher gave a recommendation that the show should be made mandatory so that they can “allocate time in the lesson plan to cover for these events.” If time permits, both teachers hope to attend next year.

To get a better understanding of what AP (Advanced Placement) teachers, with classes taking high stakes, important tests, decided to do, I interviewed an AP teacher who decided to take their 2B class. She mentioned that she “thought it was cool and worthwhile.” She shared that she “always thinks it’s a good experience to go.” When I asked if she was worried about putting her class behind, she said, “A little, but I worked on getting that into our plans.”

Lastly, I decided to speak with a World Language teacher. She made the decision to attend the Black History Month showcase, and said it was beneficial for her class to go as it “ties in with my current [curriculum] and it is important for our students to learn about diversity.”

I talked to this teacher concerning what she thought about making the event mandatory, and why that could be a good thing for North Springs. She mentioned that “diversity should be celebrated by all, and many of my students who were not in my 2B wanted to go, but did not get the chance to go. We need to make it a norm to celebrate diversity.”

She add, “Multicultural shows should also be mandatory, [since] learning about other cultures and the history of other cultures should be part of the well-educated individual.”

The question I started with was why did so many teachers choose not to attend the showcase, but my question now, after speaking with a few who teach a wide variety of subjects: Why did teachers even have to make this choice? As the teacher I interviewed from the World Language department stated in her interview ” We need to make it a norm to celebrate diversity.” It is not enough to make shows like the BSA Annual Showcase or the Multicultural Showcase an option; these shows need to be made mandatory.

To understand what could be done to push towards the show being made mandatory, I spoke with Dr. Brian Patterson, the Work Based Learning coordinator at North Springs’ and the Black Student Association sponsor.

Dr. Patterson and I talked about many options including having the show during another class period, but he mentioned that due to seniors having reduced schedules fourth period would not work. Having the show during the third would interfere with lunch; having the show during first would not be possible because that is when the dancers warm up.

With another period being impossible, I asked about the pep-rally schedule and the move of the show from the auditorium to the gym. He said “The pep-rally schedule and homeroom schedule shorten the length of each period. We used a 90-minute second-period block and ran out of time. The pep rally schedule occurs in the fourth block from 2:30-3:30, but really starts at 2:45 after the staggered dismal. Therefore, two shows would be impossible. We could attempt to do one BSA program in the Gym instead of the auditorium, but the audio in the gym is much worse. There are no alternative lighting options.”

Although it would be a sacrifice to have two mandatory shows during second period, a change like this could ensure that every student and teacher has the opportunity to see the work of their classmates and students and celebrate one of the best qualities of North Springs — our diversity!

Overall, any teacher that brought their students got to experience an extraordinary show. North Springs’ Black Student Association put on an amazing showcase that highlighted Black culture and shared the stories of Black people. It was packed with dances from the North Springs Dance Magnet, a video from AV Tech, lighting design by Mr. King’s Tech Theatre students, and songs performed by North Springs Performing Arts Magnet students.

To everyone who did not attend this year’s showcase, whether that be by choice or not, I am very sorry. You missed a great show. North Springs’ Black Student Association puts this outstanding show on every February, and it is my hope that next year, everyone will have the opportunity to see it.