A number of activities are planned at Westerville high schools in celebration of Black History Month.
Westerville Central High School will be hosting its annual Black History Month performance on Wednesday, February 17, at 7:30 p.m. in the school auditorium. Additionally, on Thursday, February 18, the performance will be shown to Central’s student body during school hours. This year’s show is entitled Sankofa. “Sankofa” is a word in the Twi language of Ghana that translates as “Go back and get it” (san-to return; ko-to go; fa-to fetch, to seek and take) and also refers to the Asante Adinkra symbol represented either by a bird with its head turned backwards taking an egg off its back, or as a styled heart shape. The performance will feature dance, narration, dramatic presentation, singing, poetry, spoken word, music, and imagery to present the story of the black experience in American history. The show was created through a collaborative effort of students, staff, and community members and is designed to educate and inspire everyone about the centrality of black history within the American experience. The Wednesday night presentation is free and open to the public.
Westerville North invited all students and staff to create art pieces that honor black leaders past and present, or to depict inspiring images of black history. Tom Lynch enlisted his art class to contribute to the project. Pupils produced outstanding works of art which will be displayed around the building all month long. The school is also grooving to classic funk, blues, jazz, and pop hits from black musicians and artists every morning. Students and staff submit song requests each day which are then played over the loud speaker before classes commence. In addition, a quote of the day from historical African American leaders is being read each morning during announcements. The Black History Month planning team includes seniors Leah Boyd, Yordanos Berhe, Asha Harris, Vanessa Herndon, and Lane’a Bridges.
Westerville South High School will be hosting its annual Black History Month performance on Friday, February 26, at 7:00 p.m. in the school auditorium. This year’s show, titled Divided We Fall, will recognize some of the past and present-day conflicts within the African-American community, as they simultaneously present resolutions for these issues and focus on empowerment through positivity, confidence and unity worldwide.
Ashley Miller, a teacher at both Westerville North and South high schools, is the director of South’s Black History Month performance for the second year in a row. “I am so excited about this year’s show,” she stated. “My student leaders and I have been meeting since July to create our theme and pieces for the performance, and the students wanted to make the program both more educational and inspirational than it has ever been before. While we felt it was necessary to address some of the problems and challenges minorities face every day, our ultimate goal is to focus on presenting our audience with solutions to these issues and to keep the focus positive. We want everyone to leave asking themselves, ‘What can I do to make a positive change in society today?’ I am so incredibly proud of each and every one of these kids; their dedication to this program is truly inspiring and I am honored to have the opportunity to direct this program.”
This year’s student leaders are Eric Atta, Victoria Ayoola, Tabita Darkwah, and Ikpemesi Ogundare, who are all seniors at Westerville South and four-year participants in the school’s Black History Month show. All pieces in the performance are student-created, including a variety of creative numbers such as skits, songs, spoken words, dance, and a fashion show. Please show your support for these pupils by attending this free, community event. Tickets are not needed.