Wendell Phillips Academy High School Presented Black History Month Anthology
Photo By: Lee Edwards
Wendell Phillips Academy High School, 244 E. Pershing Rd., wrapped up Black History Month last week with its “A Black History Month Anthology” program.
The student led event included a student talent contest, summaries of African American eras in American history, and a panel of local politicians and dignitaries including 3rd Ward Alderman Pat Dowell; Prairie State College Board of Trustees Member, Wendell Mosby; Former CeaseFire Director Tio Hardiman, Republican state representative candidate Fatimah Macklin, and Financial Analyst Kevin Truitt who engaged the students during a question and answer session.
“The panel that I’m sitting on today is about politicians in the recent past and presently so I’m looking forward to providing a real understanding of the 3rd ward,” said Dowell. “I think it’s very important for young people to know where we came from and our contributions to both Chicago and the United States.”
The event was organized and developed by Ashley Barnes. Barnes, who volunteers with Phillips’ Affinity program
“Black History Month is wrapping up and every single year we do some sort of event that honors and represents our heritage here in America but this year we wanted to do something a bit different,” said Wendell Phillips Academy High School principal Devon Horton. “Working with Ms. Barnes and our Affinity leaders we wanted to put together something where we had a Black History reflection over the last couple of years and then in between display some of the talent we have in the building and have it be a little more interactive, a little more engaging, while also receiving the knowledge of what’s happened in the past.”
Horton explained the three primary tenets of Phillips' Affinity program:
Community service –tutoring, mentoring, sports activities to help 8th graders transition from middle school to high school.
Leadership – Every student at Phillips takes a leadership course which is part of the curriculum.
Peer accountability
“I really want them to get a little more appreciation for history especially in Black History Month,” said Barnes. “The high school students knew nothing about Black History really. We got together to do an anthology like I used to do in high school; where we did acts from the past and mixed it with a talent show and added a component to talk about African Americans in politics in history.”
For more information about Wendell Phillips Academy High School visit http://www.phillips.cps.k12.il.us/.
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