To commemorate Black History Month, students in African-American History and Literature classes at Westerville North High School have launched a fantastic project. They decided to record and show informational videos on black history to inform high school and elementary school students.
In Westerville North history classes, minute-long informational videos are played to showcase significant figures and events in African-American history. The students making these videos dedicate their time and energy to research, write scripts, film and edit them. The videos are also designed to spark discussions and encourage learning in social studies classes as each one ends with a set of questions to start classroom conversation and further thoughts into the topic. The videos will be shown daily, one for every day of Black History Month.
Apart from the video series, these passionate students have also organized a BHM Read-In to celebrate Black History Month. They recorded themselves reading children’s books that feature diverse characters, as well as important black figures. These videos are intended to be shared with elementary students throughout the district, allowing younger students to learn about and appreciate black history. This also helps the kids see themselves displayed in the books, explore different identities and form empathy. These videos will be shown two to three times a week in elementary classrooms.
Following this, the high school students plan to visit several elementary schools near the end of February to read books in their classrooms, for a better reading experience for the kids.
When asked about implementing it at Westerville South High School, Fatimah Ahmed (2024) agreed, “[It’d be nice to implement it] so students can learn more about African American history and culture, and to raise their awareness about the injustices they face,” Ahmed said. More direct access to information would be nice to have and not just what is briefly taught in history classes already.
These videos are one of the greatest additions added to Westerville North this school year. It’s truly inspiring to see these students take the initiative to spread knowledge and awareness about African-American history. Their efforts are commendable, and I hope their work will continue to make a positive impact on the community in the future.
