Hillcrest HS Students Investigate Details of the Civil Rights Movement

Hillcrest High School juniors in advanced placement U.S. History class (AP), investigated the details of the Civil Rights movement through dramatic reenactments of the key events of this historic movement. The AP students were required to explore their specific event, write a narration skit of their event, and then the students theatrically performed the skit for their classmates. Lardell Clark acted as Martin Luther King, Jr., reciting the “I Have a Dream” speech with movement supporters urging him on. Jaylen Jenkins did a great job (in costume) acting as Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat. Maria Castillo tried to remove two students from the historical lunch counter event (Tosin Otabor and Ashley Moore) with no success. To end the dramatic acts, Jasmine Mayfield and Brittany Jennings explained Stokely Carmichael’s “Black Power” message. Other student skits included: Freedom Rides, the March on Selma, and Malcolm X. “Our students love to do skits in history. They put their hearts into these types of lessons and are able to empathize more with the people that changed history," said Ms. Snyder, Hillcrest AP U.S. History teacher. Students have been preparing for the College Board AP exam all year through meaningful lessons that include activities such as skits, debate, presentations and writing assignments.