Spring Break
Teaching black history to a younger generation
Students from Jefferson Elementary visit campus Friday to learn more about Black History Month
Makenna Bishop
Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: News
The Black Cultural Center (BCC) hosted a class of energetic elementary school students on Friday afternoon in order to teach them about the importance of Black History Month.
Teressa Hartley, a sophomore in interior design, is the internal coordinator at the BCC. Event planning isn't in her job description, but when the idea arose, she jumped at the chance to plan this field trip.
Hartley said she searched on Google for elementary schools in Corvallis, then sent out e-mails looking for teachers interested in participating in the event.
Debbie Birdseye, a third-grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary, was first to respond. She brought her class of 30 students to the Oregon State campus for a field trip.
The event was broken into three sections and each was scheduled to last 30 minutes.
When the children arrived, the volunteers greeted them at their bus.
One third grade student was immediately surprised and said she was excited to be around so many "big kids."
"It's a great opportunity to bring these students to a college campus," Birdseye said. "It plants the seed that they too should continue their education."
Birdseye said her class followed the recent presidential race very diligently. They had a mock-election in their class and watched the inauguration together.
"The children are very impressionable right now," Birdseye said. "I wanted to cement the idea that history is happening right now, during their generation."
The field trip began with a tour of campus, where they learned about different buildings and the daily life of college students.
The tour made a stop at the Native American Long House where they were taught about diversity on campus.
After the tour, the volunteers led the third-graders back to the BCC where the students settled in their designated groups throughout the center.
Volunteers took turn reading different books about famous Civil Rights leaders such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.
Teressa Hartley, a sophomore in interior design, is the internal coordinator at the BCC. Event planning isn't in her job description, but when the idea arose, she jumped at the chance to plan this field trip.
Hartley said she searched on Google for elementary schools in Corvallis, then sent out e-mails looking for teachers interested in participating in the event.
Debbie Birdseye, a third-grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary, was first to respond. She brought her class of 30 students to the Oregon State campus for a field trip.
The event was broken into three sections and each was scheduled to last 30 minutes.
When the children arrived, the volunteers greeted them at their bus.
One third grade student was immediately surprised and said she was excited to be around so many "big kids."
"It's a great opportunity to bring these students to a college campus," Birdseye said. "It plants the seed that they too should continue their education."
Birdseye said her class followed the recent presidential race very diligently. They had a mock-election in their class and watched the inauguration together.
"The children are very impressionable right now," Birdseye said. "I wanted to cement the idea that history is happening right now, during their generation."
The field trip began with a tour of campus, where they learned about different buildings and the daily life of college students.
The tour made a stop at the Native American Long House where they were taught about diversity on campus.
After the tour, the volunteers led the third-graders back to the BCC where the students settled in their designated groups throughout the center.
Volunteers took turn reading different books about famous Civil Rights leaders such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.
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