PLAYBILL Community School District 27
Community Superintendent Jennifer Carreón www.District27nyc.org https://twitter.com/District27NYC
#D27LiftEveryVoice
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About our Co-Master of Ceremonies (MC)
David Norment
District 27 Deputy Superintendent
A father of three beautiful children (Sanaya, Thais and Joaquim), David lives in the Bronx, NY and began his teaching career in Philadelphia, PA after graduating from Temple University. David is an avid listener of all types of music, however was raised enjoying Hip Hop. Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s was a unique period of time. From artists like Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five, KRS-1, Nas, Public Enemy and the Mighty Zulu Nation, he has always been interested in music with a message.
David’s parents were both teachers and stressed the importance of knowing the history of people of African descent. It has shaped his perspective around his commitment and focus to ensuring that students understand who and what they are in connection to world history. This perspective eventually led him to teach History at the middle, high school, and college level. David has been in education for over 26 years and has served as an Assistant Principal and Principal in the New York City Department of Education. In his current role as Deputy Superintendent, he continues to serve students and support teachers, principals and families to ensure that the youth have an opportunity to realize their full potential. David believes that you don’t need to diminish your greatness in order to appease others, let your greatness shine. And if some refuse to acknowledge or recognize your shine, then shine brighter.
#WhenIshineyoushinethenweshinetogether!
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About our Co-Master of Ceremonies (MC)
Dr. William E. Cooper District 27 Director of Continuous Improvement
Dr. William E. Cooper hails from the city of RUN DMC and LL COOL J , Hollis, Queens! Born on October 23rd, he completed his K-8 experience at the Chapel of the Redeemer School formerly in Flushing, Queens. After a short stint at August Martin High School he graduated from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. He is a proud graduate of Hampton University, a historically black college and university (HBCU), in Hampton, VA and regularly attends homecomings. He completed his graduate and doctoral studies at NYIT, Fordham University, and the Sage Colleges. His educational journey began twenty seven years ago as a long term substitute teacher at the Clara Cardwell School for the Gifted and Talented (PS/IS 308) in Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.
There he taught 5th grade, 6th grade, and Instructional Technology
before joining the District 16 superintendent’s team as the District Assessment Liaison. From there he had the distinct honor of being a graduate of the first cohort of the NYC Leadership Academy. Since then he has held various school leadership and central based roles within the New York City Department of Education. Will is a resident of West Hempstead,L.I. with his awesome wife and two amazing children. In his spare time he enjoys gardening, Peloton, bicycling, watching anything Marvel produces, and volunteering through his community based affiliations with the Valley Stream Assemblies of God Church, the Prince Hall Masons and the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity to serve the communities of Southeast Queens, Valley Stream and Hempstead, NY.
#Weareallapartofsomethinggreaterthanourselves
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Keynote Speaker
Daniel Black, Ph.D. Author, Professor, Consultant, Mentor
Dr. Daniel Black is an award-winning novelist, professor, and activist. His published works include They Tell Me of Home, The Sacred Place, Perfect Peace, Twelve Gates to the City, The Coming, and Listen to the Lambs. In 2014, he won the Distinguished Writer’s Award from the Mid-Atlantic Writer’s Association. The Go On Girl! National Book Club named him “Author of the Year'' in 2011 for his novel Perfect Peace. Perfect Peace was also chosen as the 2014 selection for “If All Arkansas Read the Same Book” by the Arkansas Center for the Book at the Arkansas State Library. The novel has been reprinted more than ten times and is being heralded as an American literary classic. Dr. Black has also been twice nominated for the Townsend Literary Prize, the Ernest J. Gaines Award, the Ferro-Grumbley Literary Prize, the Lambda Literary Award, and the Georgia Author of the Year Prize. In 2015, Dr. Black’s The Coming was published to broad critical acclaim. The novel is a first-hand account of the trauma and triumph of Africans aboard a slave ship in the 16th century. Reviewers call this work “brilliant”, “poetic”, and “a literary homage to the lives of those Africans tossed into the sea.” In 2016, Dr. Black’s long-awaited novel Listen to the Lambs was published. This novel explores the lives and agency of homeless people who find each other on the street and create lives of meaning without material substance. Dr. Black’s work has been justly celebrated. National Book Award winning author Charles Johnson says The Coming is “powerful and brilliant.” He goes on to state, “This is a work to be proud of!” Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker says, “Perfect Peace is a spellbinding novel that kept me reading late into several nights. A young boy raised as a girl until ‘she’ was eight years old…. and then? Forced to be a ‘boy.’ It is a gift to have so much passion, so much love, so much beautiful writing so flawlessly faithful to the language of ancestors who grappled as best they could with more than they could ever understand. This novel will one day be a film of much benefit to us, if done well. The visuals of it will help us see what we are so often blind to: the great fluidity inherent in all things, including ‘race’ and sexuality. Thank you, Daniel Black.” Dr. Black’s newest novel, Don’t Cry For Me, has recently been released by HarperCollins Publishers on February 1st, 2022. About this novel, National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward says, “DON’T CRY FOR ME is a perfect song: the epistolary dirge of a man singing to his son as he faces death by cancer. At turns intense and funny, tender and brutally honest, Jacob’s letter to his son, Isaac, is revelatory. It’s a beautiful book. Read it.” A native of Kansas City, Kansas, Dr. Black spent his formative years in rural Blackwell, Arkansas. Dr. Black graduated from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) where he earned the prestigious Oxford Modern British Studies fellowship and studied at Oxford University. He was awarded a full fellowship to Temple University where he studied with poet laureate of the Black Arts Movement, Sonia Sanchez and earned his Ph.D. in African American Studies. Dr. Black is now Professor of African American Studies at his alma mater Clark Atlanta University. Dr. Black lives in Atlanta and is the founder of the Ndugu-Nzinga Rites of Passage Nation, a mentoring society for people of African descent.
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New York City Department of Education Community School District 27
Community Superintendent Jennifer Carreón
District 27 Superintendent’s Team
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Program Welcome, Introduction and Roll Call…………….…Deputy Supt. David Norment & Dr. William Cooper, MCs Negro National Anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing”..............Kristen Oudkerk, Student, Scholars’ Academy Greetings…….….………….……… Superintendent Jennifer Carreon, Community Superintendent, District 27 “What Does Black History Month Mean to Me?”…………............District 27 Community and School Leaders Performance: Spoken Word…...………………………………………………………Students of Village Academy Black History Month Matters Presentation……………….……………………….Students of Scholars’ Academy Breakout Room Discussions…………………………………….…..Students of Scholars’ Academy (Facilitators) Keynote Speaker..………..…….……………………………………………………….………Dr. Daniel Black, Author Breakout Room Discussions: “Taking Actions”………………….Students of Scholars’ Academy (Facilitators) Dance Performance….............................................................Students of PS/MS 43Q - The School By The Sea Closing Remarks……………………..…..……….Deputy Superintendents David Norment & Melissa Compson A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ......................................................Our Collective District 27 Community
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District 27 Student Government Advisors and Officers School
Student Government Advisor
Student Government President/Designees/Officers
27Q042
L. Galloway PhD, Director
Ashley Beckford
27Q043
Sharon Sessing
Zion Gardner
27Q045
Sasihana McIntosh
Richard Boykin/ Jocelyn Saquicary
27Q047
Heather Lorenz, Principal
Elizabeth Bode
27Q051
Erica Worrell
Ayana James
27Q053
Kamellia Hill
Reyaad Mohamed
27Q056
Lisa Chetram
Rania Aboussalham
27Q062
Leanne Evelyn
Sophia Ngo
27Q063
Mr. Barone
Kathy Juarez
27Q064
Churanie Appiah
Samir Ahmed
27Q066
Fallon Panetta
Hubert Opiola
27Q090
Lisa Parente
Adrita Ansar
27Q096
Joy-Ann Anderson
Maya Tillackram
27Q097
Cynthia Rodriguez
Tristen Luna
27Q100
Elizabeth Paradise
Chloe Lloyd
27Q104
Gilda Quijije
Jonathan Dominguez
27Q105
Viviana Fitzgerald
Tyanna Winslow
27Q106
Nicole Rose
Denise Evans
27Q108
Christina Esposito
Devi Ramnauth
27Q114
Gina Machado
Domenica Giamona
27Q123
Michelle Kahan
Flourish Enabulele
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School
Student Government Advisor
Student Government President/Designees/Officers
27Q124
Amy Warchola
Samara Joy Small
27Q137
Barbara Lukenovich
Ashia Phang
27Q146
James Volkland
Emmaus Howley,
27Q155
Tasha Kurs
Mahdia Rayhan
27Q197
Nechama Lax
Ian Feliz
27Q202
Kye Weaver
Sabriha Safa
27Q207
Melissa Meric
Logan Asik
27Q210
Amarilis Torello
Kadeza Ahmed
27Q223
Samantha Belkin
Jace Johnson
27Q226
Sharon Stamile
Azeem Zaman
27Q232
Cheryl Rizzo
Seher Samuel
27Q254
Ivette McCarthy
Angelise Santana
27Q273
Jennifer Rodriguez
Justin Jimenez
27Q282
Roseanne Honan-Delgado
Lydia Appau
27Q297
Dr. Maureen Hussey
Aliyah Adekoya
27Q306
Katherine Bonilla
Tea Magsaysay
27Q316
Jessica Finnerty
Vipaasha Sookraj
27Q317
Dana Gerendasi
Jessica Sautner and Saige Cassell
27Q323
Kim Newman
Ehidamen Akhere
27Q333
Ruthann Watson
Myasia Panell
27Q362
Gemma Ferguson
Kimora Burrell
27Q377
Katherine Henry
Ayden Paradis
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Contributions From Our Schools Performances, Writing and Artwork
27Q042, Principal Patricia Finn 27Q060, Principal Elizabeth Orsini-Fox 27Q062, Principal Jordan Vitta 27Q063, Principal Denise De Jesus 27Q066, Principal Helen DeSario 27Q097, Principal Yassine Aggoub 27Q108, Principal Jennifer Iovine 27Q114, Principal Elizabeth Welsome 27Q124, Principal Maritza Williams-Jones 27Q210, Principal Kuljit (Victor) Singh
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Contributions From Our Community and School Leaders What does Black History Month Mean to Me?
27Q042, Principal Patricia Finn 27Q043, Principal Simone Nicholas 27Q051, Principal Magdaly Sainte-Juste 27Q063, Principal Denise DeJesus 27Q066, Principal Helen DeSario 27Q096, Principal Vivian Eweka 27Q097, Principal Yassine Aggoub 27Q108, Principal Jennifer Iovine 27Q114, Principal Elizabeth Welsome 27Q155, Principal Jason Koo 27Q202, Principal William Fitzgerald 27Q207, Principal Lisa Nevins 27Q223, Principal Tekesha Babb 27Q306, Principal Cheryl-Ann Leone 27Q323, Principal Michele Smyth 27Q377, Principal Tracey Keane
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Black History Month Resources ●
Association for the Study of African American Life and History Short history of Black History Month with a focus on the early role of Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (nee Association for the Study of Negro Life and History).
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Black History Month - Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Collection of educational resources for teaching about Black History Month
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Black History Month Resources | PBS LearningMedia The month of February honors the important role Black people play in the story of our country. Across the United States, schools and communities organize to learn more about Black History and Culture. Learn about Black History Month resources from PBS LearningMedia to use in your in-person or online classroom.
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Center for Racial Justice in Education Two collections including dozens of resources organized into categories to support the integration of Black history and experiences in school curricula and at home.
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Fellowship of Reconciliation A sixteen-page comic book created in 1957 to highlight the practice of nonviolent protest and the life of MLK. The book focuses on the Bus Boycott of 1956. More background information and historical context are available in this feature from Teaching Tolerance. Students can continue their exploration of comics about civic issues by reading the NYCDOE Civics for All comics, Action Activists and Registered.
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National Geographic Kids A short reading about the history of Black History Month for elementary school readers.
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Negro Leagues Baseball Museum 2020 was the 100th anniversary of the Negro National Leagues. The history of Black people in organized baseball is central to the history of the United States. Storied is a collection of 22 short videos about the history of the Negro League hosted by Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Musuem. Have students select one video and use it as a starting point to do a short research project guided by the questions below. For more on teaching the Negro Leagues, take a look at this lesson on the history of organized Black Baseball.
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NYCDOE School Library System A collection of ebooks and audiobooks for young people relating to the Black experience in the US and beyond. Available to NYCDOE students and teachers by logging into the Sora app with their NYCDOE credentials.
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Black History Month Resources ●
New York Public Library The New York Public Library celebrates Black History Month throughout February with live online events and programs, blog posts, recommended reading, and a wide array of digital resources available to anyone with a library card.
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New York Times Representative John Lewis was a civil rights leader and congressman who died on July 17, 2020. He wrote this essay shortly before his death. There is also a recording of Morgan Freeman reading Representative Lewis’ last words.
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Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture: Black Liberation List for Teens Black Liberation Reading List for Kids For 95 years, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has preserved, protected, and fostered a greater understanding of the Black experience through its collections, exhibitions, programs, and scholarship. In response to the uprisings across the globe demanding justice for Black lives, the Schomburg Center has created a Black Liberation Reading List. The titles on the list represent books we and the public turn to regularly as activists, students, archivists, and curators, with a particular focus on books by Black authors and those whose papers we steward.
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USA Today Article with a short history of Black History Month and a discussion about how to expand the teaching of Black history beyond the month of February.
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Witness Docs A podcast series that draws on archives of the voices of Black Americans to tell the story of tiny, everyday acts that contributed to the end of slavery in America.
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Acknowledgements & Gratitude Superintendent Jennifer Carreón and the District 27 Superintendent’s Team would like to sincerely thank everyone who contributed and participated in this Black History Month Celebration. We appreciate all of the artwork, poetry readings, dance and music performances, speeches and leadership profiles that were shared with our community. It is so important that we share with each other the vibrant cultural heritage and stories within our Community. #D27BetterTogether #D27LiftEveryVoice On behalf of Superintendent Carreón and the entire District 27 Superintendent’s Team, we would like to thank Principal Smyth and the wonderful students at Scholars’ Academy for their support of our multiple district-sponsored Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education (CR-SE) initiatives. Thank you to all of our performers, artists, our Keynote Speaker, Dr. Daniel Black and our MCs, Deputy Supt. David Norment and Dr. William Cooper! Thank you to all of our invited guests, Elected Officials, Community and School Leaders, School Staff, District 27 Leadership Team (DLT) Members, and SPECIAL THANKS TO our Student Government Officers and our Student Government Advisors, who have joined us today!
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Community School District 27 Community Superintendent Jennifer Carreón
District 27 Website: www.district27nyc.org For Students Page: http://www.district27nyc.org/students.html For Families Page: http://www.district27nyc.org/families.html
District Email: District27@schools.nyc.gov District Twitter:
https://twitter.com/District27NYC
2021 First District 27-Sponsored Black History Month Celebration: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16qJk5rEeD4h5J5utGKflj0LGkQjb0uAp/view?usp=sharing
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