Colonial School District: Elementary Lessons For Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Press release from the Colonial School District:

2021-01-29

Surrounding Martin Luther King Jr. Day, elementary students did activities and research — and even had special guests — to help them learn about the civil rights leader.

"It is important to learn about Martin Luther King, Jr., because he wanted everyone to be treated equally," said Whitemarsh Elementary School (WE) third grader Ember Lee. "He didn't fight, but he used his words instead."

WE second graders researched Dr. King's peaceful methods and used their words to make signs about what they thought was important -- like family, healthy food and a clean planet.

Other lessons focused on Dr. King's messages about bringing people of different races together and dreams for society based on the famous "I Have A Dream" speech from a 1963 march in Washington, D.C.

"Dr. Martin Luther King tried to help black people from being separated from their friends, because Dr. King was not allowed to play with his friend because he was white," said Ridge Park Elementary School (RP) second grader Sienna Brandon-Gomez. "He also wanted all 'Whites Only' signs to be taken down. Dr. King's speech was about the justice we should have."

WE third grader Mackenzie Walker shared a similar thought in a thank you note to Dr. King.

RP second grader Lucas Davis and his grandfather, retired Plymouth Whitemarsh High School math teacher Joe Davis who attended the 1963 march on Washington.

"Thank you for changing the rules, because there are really nice black people on my bus, and I would not have been able to play with them if that rule was not made," said Mackenzie.

WE third grader Eli Walinsky wrote about Dr. King's character in his thank you note.

"Thank you for being so brave and never giving up," he said.

At RP, children in Megan Pavlik's class welcomed retired Plymouth Whitemarsh High School math teacher Joe Davis, who attended the 1963 march — and is the grandfather of RP second grader Lucas Davis.

"Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his 'I Have a Dream' speech, because he wanted people to live free and not be separated from others at school or on playgrounds," said Lucas. "I also learned from my Poppop that day in Washington was very hot."

The elementary schools will continue to reinforce lessons about getting along and respecting differences as they move into the Great Kindness Challenge, held the last week in January.

This press release was produced by the Colonial School District .The views expressed here are the author’s own.