Honoring a Hero

Honoring a Hero

The students at St. Bartholomew Academy took some time last week to honor and learn more about a true hero, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Students in the younger grades read grade-appropriate books like Martin’s Big Words: the Life of Doctor Martin Luther King which weaves the story of King’s life and the words he used.  The students also learned what words such as freedom, equality, and courage meant to King during his lifetime, and what they still mean to us today.  They also read The Crayon Box That Talked, a story about tolerance and acceptance.  Next, the teachers led discussions about what peace means to the students. 

The students in Pre-K, Kindergarten and second grade made booklets based on King’s life, and the first graders made doves.  The third graders made a mosaic poster of King, with each child coloring a different part of the poster.  The fourth and fifth grade students spent time discussing the accomplishments of Martin Luther King and the impact the Civil Rights movement had on our nation.

Our Middle School students, guided by Mrs. Schoendorf, our Language Arts teacher, participated in several literary exercises that gave the students a chance to immerse themselves in King’s life and the impact he had on society.  Our sixth grade students wrote Diamante poems exploring the power of the words from Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.  The seventh graders were challenged to write an essay answering the question “If you won the Nobel Peace Prize, how would you use the $1,000,000 of prize money to promote world peace?”  The eighth grade students took three quotes from Dr. King’s speeches and interviews, such as “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase,” and had to interpret what those quotes mean to them. 

We invite you to walk around the school to view these many and myriad projects and see how much our students have learned about Dr. King and the impact his life has had on them.