13 Feb 2006
Student performances and guest speakers are among planned events
DALLAS—Students in the Dallas Independent School District will observe African American History Month in February with events ranging from tap dancing to a parade of heroes.
"Celebrating Community: A Tribute to Black Fraternal, Social & Civic Institutions is the national observance's theme.
Among the events will be an assembly Wednesday, February 15, at 10 a.m. in the School Administration Building, 3700 Ross Ave. Guest speaker is Harry Robinson, President/CEO African American Museum.
School events include:
• On Thursday, Feb. 16, sixth grade students at Reinhardt Elementary students will honor the memory of Rosa Parks and perform hit songs by The Temptations at 7:30 p.m. The school is located at 10122 Losa Dr.
• At Annie Webb Blanton Elementary on Feb. 16 at 10:30 a.m., students will follow the national theme by highlighting the staff members of fraternities and sororities. Programs will include a praise dance, step team salute, gospel choir and more. The faculty and staff will enjoy a soul food dinner. Blanton is located at 8915 Greenmound Ave.
• On Feb. 16, Bayles Elementary School students will profile Black organizations, and Black inventors of America. The Bayles choir will perform at 7 p.m. The school is located at 2444 Telegraph Drive.
• T. G. Terry Elementary students will perform the longest "Electric Slide" dance in Dallas on the playground at 10 a.m. on Feb. 20. And on Feb. 28, fifty African American inventors will be highlighted in a parade called the "Parade of Heroes." All students will visit the T.G. Terry African Museum the week of Feb 20-24. Terry is located at 6661 Greenspan Ave.
• At Julia C. Frazier Elementary, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m., the PTA's African American History month
program special guest is KUMASI, an African drum and dance ensemble. Also, Terry Forest, president
of the Dallas metroplex chapters of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. Forest was the "Omega Man of the Year for 2005." The school is located at 4600 Spring Ave.
• Robert E. Lee Elementary School events include Hoofing in America, a tap dance performance, Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 9 a.m. Two award winning artist educators from Philadelphia use tap dances, physical humor, and student interaction to explore addition, subtraction, and multiplication and history through contemporary street and social dances. The school is located at 2911 Delmar Ave.
• At Ignacio Zaragoza Elementary on Feb. 28 at 1 p.m. a program featuring student presentations about famous Black Americans also will include student performance of the Negro National Anthem and a fraternal step exhibition. Zaragoza is located at 4550 Worth St.