Black History Month

February is Black History Month.

Palms holds a Black History Assembly where students perform -- singing, dancing, doing skits, etc. -- in recognition of African-American culture. The Palms Jazz Band often performs. Sixth Grade Leadership participates too. Other forms of recognition occur throughout the month.

Black History Month Assembly 2027

Friday, February 26, Periods 3 and 4

Planned by Sixth Grade Leadership

BSAP Black History Science Inventor Fair 2027

Friday, February 19, Period 3 and Lunch

Black History Month Assembly 2026

Thursday, February 26, Periods 3 and 4

Planned by Sixth Grade Leadership

Features

• The Palms Jazz Band medley tribute to Motown, with "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"
• Art by Ms. Goldin's Art students
• Ms. Stansbury as Diana Ross
• "Dancing In the Streets" by Martha and the Vandellas, dance tribute choreographed by Ms. Sonya Enchill
• "Tomorrow (A Better You, Better Me)" by Tevin Campbell and Quincy Jones, sung by Jemari English
• "No One" by Alicia Keyes, sung by Halo Crawford
• "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley, performed with guitar by Peter Steele
• "One, Two Step" by Ciara, danced by Estelle Pohle, Aeryona, Bullard, and Isabella Mitchell
• "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin, whistled, sung, and played on guitar by Leo Steele
• "Shut Up and Drive" by Rihanna, danced by Adelaide Wallis
• "Heaven Can Wait" by Michael Jackson, performed by Yeni Matthews
• Acoustic guitar piece by Stromae, performed by Jasmine Kendall

Tributes to:

• The Tuskegee Airmen (World War II military pilots)
• Neil deGrasse Tyson (astrophysicist, author, and educator)
• Jimi Hendrix (rock guitarist legend, with his Star Spangled Banner rendition played by Jasper Scoates 
• LeBron James (Laker and NBA's all-time leading scorer)
• Juju Watkins (college basketball player)

Black History Month Assembly 2025

Friday, February 28, Periods 3 and 4

Planned by Sixth Grade Leadership

Features

• The Palms Jazz Band: a tribute to Louis Armstrong with "What A Wonderful World"
• Ms. Stansbury as Maya Angelou

Songs from

• The Jackson Five
• Kendrick Lamar
• Cynthia Erivo (from Wicked)

Tributes to

• Jackie Robinson (baseball legend)
• Kehinde Wiley (artist and former Palms student)
• Ketanji Brown Jackson (Supreme Court Justice)
• Madam CJ Walker (first U.S. female self-made millionaire)
• Mae Jemison (first Black female astronaut)
• Kylian Mbappe (soccer legend)
• Serena Williams (tennis legend)
• Muhammad Ali (boxing legend)
• Simone Biles (gymnastics legend)

Video tributes to

• Run-DMC
• Tyler the Creator
• Beyonce

Events for 2024-2925

Black History Lunchtime Event
Friday, February 7, 2025

Black Fathers Matter: "Let's Talk Football!"
L.A. Rams and NFL professional photographer
Thursday, February 20, 2025
12:00-1:00pm, Library
Sign-up form

Celebration of Black Cultural Food
"Taste of Soul"
Friday, February 21, 2025, Lunch

Show Your Moves
Line dancing & soul music karaoke
Wednesdays at Lunch, February 2025

Door Decorating Contest
Monday, February 24 to Thursday, February 27, 2025
Homeroom judging

School Yard Rap field trip
Monday, February 24, 2025

Black HIstory Month assemblies
Friday, February 28, 2025, Period 4

For further information, check the School Calendar and watch for news announcements.

Black History Challenge

Can you identify these famous black Americans? Answers are below but don't click or tap until you try to answer the questions yourself.

This person...

1. ...refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, leading to a 382-day bus boycott by Black people.
2. ...had first and middle names "Edward Kennedy" at birth.
3. ...sang in church choirs while growing up as the granddaughter of two Methodist ministers.
4. ...worked at a childcare center before becoming a well-known political figure.
5. ...was a one-time Nation of Islam minister and was assassinated while giving a speech in 1965.
6. ...worked for NASA as a physicist and mathematician, receiving a Presidential Medal of Freedom for helping to put astronauts on the moon.
7. ...was a Harvard graduate and played a role in starting the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
8. ...was the first black congresswoman to be elected from the Deep South.
9. ...helped register black voters in Mississippi and led boycotts there of firms that practiced racial discrimination.
10. ...was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in making an Arab-Israeli peace in 1949.

Source: EducationWorld

Picture Question

Do you know where this Martlin Luther King Jr. Memorial is? Have you been to see it? Would you like to?

The answer to the first question is upside-down below.

Black History Month 2021

Winners of the Sixth Grade Leadership Black History Month Art Contest:

• Eleanor Buckner for her drawing of scientist George Washington Carver
• Camilla Piubeni for her drawing of boxer Muhammad Ali

Black History Month Shows by Sixth Grade Leadership

Spring 2020: Motown Show

Spring 2019: R.E.S.P.E.C.T.: honoring Aretha Franklin

MLK Day of Service

The MLK Day of Service is a chance to help your neighbors and community on MLK Day. On this day, everyone is encouraged to serve, educate, volunteer, and share.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'

Participating in the MLK Day of Service is a great way to answer!

For ideas, download the 2015 MLK Day of Service flyer.

I Have a Dream

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

-- from the "I Have a Dream" speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., August 28, 1963, Washington, DC