GREENSBORO, N.C. — Something very special is happening at a Guilford County elementary school.
Kindergarten students at Wiley Elementary in Greensboro are bringing Black legends to life for Black History Month.
The historic figures include NASA astronaut and NC A&T graduate Ronald McNair. Rosa Parks, whose history-making decision not to leave her seat sparked bus boycotts during the Civil Rights Movement. Former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. As well as artistic greats: movie director Spike Lee and musical genius Stevie Wonder.
Teacher Sharee Allah explains the project and the impact.
"Studying history can be a lot to absorb for any age, but especially for kindergarteners, so we wanted to kick off Black History Month with ways to get them engaged and excited about learning about Black history," said Allah. "I thought, maybe we'll do some dressing up. Kids love to dress up, especially at this age," she added.
The students attend class in-person or online dressed as their historic figure. They help with the morning announcements and teach other students why their figure is an important part of history.
Allah says not only do her students learn about the historic figure, but they also study them in memorable ways.
"We talked about Stevie Wonder, so while we were doing our morning work, we listened to a little bit of his music and they're tapping their feet, tapping their pencils and they really enjoyed listening to him," she said.
The students will continue the project every day until the end of the month.