Yesterday and today I gave very special homework assignments to the Fourth Graders I teach at a Title I school. My school serves a population that is 96% African-American and where 80% of our students receive "free or reduced meals". Yesterday my students wrote "August 28, 1963" at the top of sheet of paper. Their challenge was to talk to some adult, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and neighbors who remembered what happened that day, and thn write about it.
My students bounded into our classroom this morning excited to relate what they had learned about this day, forty-five years ago. They wanted to know if I had been there at the March. I told them no, I was their age when it happened, but I did get to watch it on a a 19 inch B&W TV with a rabbit ears. (Black & White TV was a source of great curiosity and amusement) My parents, my six-year old sister and I sat in front of that flickering picture in total awe and amazement. It is a memory that is still crystal clear to me all these many years later. My students watched a video about the March on Washington" and were mesmerized by Dr. King's words. They were shocked when I told them that Black people were not even allowed to vote in many states when that speech was made.
I told my students that tonight they too could be "witnesses to history". A letter went home to their parents/guardians asking them to allow the kids to take a nap and get up at 10 PM to "witness history". I also encouraged parents to watch with their students to answer questions and share their feelings about this awesome moment in our country's history. The excitement in my class tomorrow morning will be almost as great as at Invesco Field tonight. Can't wait!