News Item
Monticello Schools celebrate Culture and Diversity
March 2010
One of the goals of the Monticello Central School District is to celebrate culture and diversity.
This year, the schools participated in
Sullivan County's Black History Month celebration. Students
submitted artwork, essays and poems for display and the Cooke
Elementary School Second-Grade Singers performed.
CLICK HERE to view the photo array from the event.
Student and teacher create a modern 3D sculpture of African American inventions
Cooke Elementary School student Jarell Millien and art teacher Amy Garrett created an original, eye-catching work of art as part of Cooke's contribution to the "Monticello Celebrates Culture & Diversity" celebration.
The artwork was displayed at the Sullivan County Courthouse for the countywide Black History Month program.
The free-standing sculpture is a tribute to the contributions of African American Inventors. Jarell, a first grade student, helped collect and attach these inventions to the base of the free standing sculpture.
The artwork displays information on many levels and is a complicated piece that needs to be viewed beyond a first glance for its depth of meaning to be fully appreciated.
Chase students celebrate the history and contributions of African Americans
Lynn Oakley’s, Elizabeth Sicuro's and Jennifer
Unverzagt’s third grade classes at Chase proudly presents the
Jubilee Singers! The Jubilee Singers were African American
students in one of the few colleges that allowed black students at
that time. Many of them were born into slavery.
When the school needed money or it would close, Ella Shepperd and her friends travelled around singing songs from slavery days. They became very famous and are an important part of African-American history.
Our classes have created acrostic poems to reflect the thoughts and feelings we had after listening to the book based on the Jubilee Singers story titled A Band of Angels by Deborah Hopkinson.
We can learn from the determination the characters showed in their actions. Their singing inspired people to tears as they communicated experiences they had in their lives. They were able to connect with people of different colors and backgrounds and show that we are all alike on the inside!
Photo: Representing the third grade classes from left, Luke Hicks, Ryan Grodin and Sarah Grodin with the works of art and literature from the project.