Van Bokkelen Students Celebrate Black History Month

Students and staff at Van Bokkelen Elementary School took time Friday to celebrate the legacy of great African Americans in history with a school-wide assembly featuring music, dancing and poetry. 

The spirited assembly featured lessons presentations about black pioneers ranging from Barack Obama to Sojourner Truth, with each grade level offering a unique presentation. 

The afternoon also featured step performances from the Omega Psi Phi fraternity at Morgan State. 

Highlights of the assembly included fifth-graders acting out the experience of Harriet Tubman, founder of the Underground Railroad; a dance performance by third-graders to Michael Jackson's "Thriller"; and pre-K students reciting a poem about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  

Some teachers dressed up and made short performances as civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, gymnast Gabby Douglass and pilot Bessie Coleman. 

"I've been here for five years, and this has been the best performance by far from every grade level," Van Bokkelen Principal Leonard Massie said.