Black History Month at Burke’s

Black History Month at Burke’s was filled with engaging and joyful happenings, both inside and outside the classroom.


Burke’s librarians curated a broad collection of titles for the community to check out for the classroom or personal interest. Among the offerings were, “Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen” by George McCalman, “Mighty Justice, The Untold Story of Civil Rights Trailblazer Dovey Johnson” by Katie McCabe, “The Crossover” by Kwame Alexander and “The Stars Beneath Our Feet” by David Barclay Moore. 
 
 In a Lower School Assembly, fourth-grade facilitators organized a reflection in honor of Black History Month with the question “Who is a Black person that inspires you?” the student facilitators shared their own inspirations to start off the conversations that included Kamala Harris, Ruby Bridges, Briana Scurry, and Maya Angelou.
 
In Tree House, students completed an art project inspired by Noah Purifoy, a Joshua Tree artist who creates art pieces for social change from found and discarded objects. To see a short video from the project, click here
 
Youth Voice guided activities and a presentation on Black History Month in their weekly Upper School assemblies. One activity involved a reading of Amanda Gorman's "The Hill We Climb” where each advisory group was tasked with creating their own poem using Gorman's words. Four grades shared their poems with messages of hope and calls for greater diversity.  In Upper School Humanities, sixth-graders embarked on a reading and project, where they learned about trailblazing Black women in US history who have overcome significant odds, and forged a new path for girls to be their own trailblazers around the world. 
 
Outside of the classroom, our affinity groups were busy: the student Black Heritage Affinity Group planned and held a potluck, and the parent Black Heritage Affinity Group brought speaker Rhonda V. Magee, M.A., J.D., Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Contemplative Law and Ethics to campus. The faculty Black Heritage Affinity Group put together a bulletin board in the lunchroom honoring Black History Month and another board next to the third-grade courtyard was organized through the Office of Diversity, Equity Inclusion, and Belonging.
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Burke's mission is to educate, encourage and empower girls. Our school combines academic excellence with an appreciation for childhood so that students thrive as learners, develop a strong sense of self, contribute to community, and fulfill their potential, now and throughout life.
Burke's admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.