Jupiter High honors Black History Month through the announcements, posters and in the classroom in order to promote the commemoration of African Americans for their prominence in history and to raise awareness on injustices.
Since 1976, Black History Month has been instituted during Feb. due to the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH).
Black History Month is a celebration held annually to recognize African Americans and their prominent role in American history. Jupiter High’s Black Student Union (BSU) was also created for this purpose.
“BSU is focused on promoting a positive representation of African American communities as well as promoting student leadership,” Kaisha Lamour, sophomore and Vice President of BSU, said. “The organization is open to all and is geared towards exposing our members of other cultures and creating a community.”
BSU utilizes its club to talk about Black history and allow its participants to learn about different cultures.
“We celebrated Black History Month by holding weekly luncheons every Friday. This allowed our members to hear and learn about new cultures where black people have overcome adversity and thrived,” Lamour said.
Jupiter BSU was instituted to create a place where everyone can feel comfortable and welcome.
“Once you accept yourself and create a safe space for others to ask questions you are creating an environment to spread awareness,” Lamour said.
The Jupiter High’s announcements have been highlighting prominent Black figures with a picture and description of their accomplishments each morning. Teachers have also incorporated these topics into their lesson plans with 2-D art students making posters of iconic African Americans and their accomplishments.
“The posters had a positive impact on the students this year with more than one student remarking how interesting and inspiring the person they researched was,” Sarah Knudtson, 2-D art teacher, said.
Knudston explains why they created the posters and how it altered the way the students approached the artwork.
“Time is a weird concept and timelines and the creation of physical items can help with visualizing it. The earliest year of birth on the posters was 1812 and the most recent is 1998, spreading awareness that Black History is not something that is stagnant but is alive and growing with strong roots and new growth and branches appearing all the time,” Knudtson said.
2-D art students are finding inspiration from Black artists during all months of the year.
“My AICE students are constantly researching and creating photographs inspired by others,” Knudtson said. “The posters are the only ‘Black History Project’ I assign, but the work of Black artists is studied year round.”
