🫶🏽🫶🏾🫶🏿❤️ At North Buncombe Middle School, Chris Brown’s social studies classroom and adjacent hallway are overflowing with tributes to Black History Month.
This week, her students have been making “paper quilts” using hexagon cut-outs to highlight black individuals not typically covered in history books, such as athletes, activists, and musicians. There are 82 historical figures, and students are “stitching” them together after individually researching and filing in their hexagons.
“You did your research and you listed 10 important events in their life, like their achievements, what shaped them, and then how they changed the world,” said Elyse, an eighth grader. “I think it's important to recognize people who may not be in every history book. Because a lot of the time, there are incredible people who made a huge difference.”
Elyse studied Venus Williams and learned several surprising facts about her.
“She went professional at 14, she was an entrepreneur off the court, and she really did advocate for equal pay in sports,” Elyse said. “I think it's important to tell these people's stories, just as much as it is to learn about Martin Luther King.”