March 22, 2017 -- “Food, fellowship, family.” That’s how third grade teacher Karla Morson described the Soul Food Café that capped off Black History Month at Boulevard Elementary School one Friday evening in February.
“We’re bringing families together, to socialize with each other and enjoy good food,” said fourth grade teacher Julie Walker. “And to celebrate our students’ hard work.”
The students had indeed worked hard. They spent much of the month of February engaged in projects that was part research paper and part personal narrative. Students identified their own dream careers, researched the necessary steps to attain that career, and studied famous African Americans who had that same career.
Each grade level did the project slightly differently. One group used photos of themselves surrounded by four thought bubbles: one for their chosen career, one for the personal characteristics required for that career (courage, strength and natural knowledge to be an explorer), another bubble for a famous African-American and the last for a college that one might attend to prepare for said career.
Other classes did similar projects, complete with photos of themselves and of their respective heroes, or quilt-style art. One group incorporated their dreams for themselves, their families and their communities.
The fifth graders wrote reports that detailed the responsibilities and steps necessary for their chosen career, what obstacles they might personally face in reaching their goals and how to overcome them.
One poignant moment came as fifth grader Kambria Foust showed her project to her mother, made all the more meaningful because Kambria hopes to be a Child and Family Social Worker, a position her mother currently holds.
Kambria said, “I want to have this job because I love helping people. And by doing this, I could show what I’m capable of. And put smiles on people’s faces.”
She read aloud to her mother, who stood behind her in awe, only occasionally helping out with the pronunciations of long words (psy-cho-log-i-cal). “After researching this career, I find it even more exciting,” read Kambria.
Her mother’s face broke into a huge smile as Kambria finished: “My goal is to help people and fix this world piece by piece.”
“I think this is an amazing project,” said the elder social worker. “I’m shocked that fifth graders are so focused on their futures.”
According to building principal Shelly Pulling, the projects were inspired by two important themes: a personal twist on Martin Luther King’s "I Have A Dream" speech and Boulevard’s year-long theme of "Oh, The Places You’ll Go!" “We mixed those two ideas together so students could write about their own dreams.”
Many students chose to become fashion designers, pop stars or professional athletes, but teachers were sure to encourage them to have back-up careers and college goals. “Think about something you’d have to go to college for,” Morson encouraged.
She and Walker both joked that the NBA wannabes in their classrooms gave them an excellent opportunity to put a real-world spin on teaching percentages and statistical probability.
Walker reported that one boy in her class wants to be a professional boxer but said, “I know I’d have to be a really good citizen because if I got in a fight outside the ring, the consequences would be greater for me than for someone else.”
Third grader Brooklyn Langan researched Barack Obama as part of her own dream to become President of the United States. Proving that our young people are paying close attention to issues of national and international importance, she said she wants “to welcome everyone from around the world... and make America great again.”
Parent volunteers were certainly making the Soul Food Café great with their homemade collard greens, baked beans, black-eyed peas, macaroni and cheese, jalapeno cornbread, and barbequed ribs. Boulevard’s PTA rounded out the meal by providing fried chicken and salad.
After enjoying their meals, students could visit various craft stations: one where they decorated graham crackers with M&Ms to look like traffic lights in honor of inventor Garrett Morgan and another where they made homemade lip gloss out of Vaseline and Kool Aid in honor of Madam C. J. Walker.
Second grader Evelyn Jamieson was especially excited because, as she put it, “I love cake.” But she was also inspired by all she’d learned over the course of Black History Month, especially about “different people fighting for justice.”
PTA member Shanen Truitt believes the Café served its purpose of bringing families together so students, staff and parents can get to know one another in a less formal environment. Her two Boulevard children were excited to attend.
“They look forward to everything we do here.”