DAR Awards Page 2
The Sweet Side Of Valentine’s Page 7
Raytown Sports Page 8
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Northwood Penguin Flag Flies In Antarctica Students at Northwood School in Raytown recently had the opportunity to collaborate with the education department of the Kansas City Zoo in a pilot project to design a flag which was flown in Antarctica. With the help of teacher Brianne Wesche, students learned about penguins and their habits by conducting and reading research and posing questions to researchers in the field. Students were able to present their research and what they had learned at a student symposium at the zoo. “The students really enjoyed learning about Antarctica and the various animals that live there, especially the penguins,” Wesche said. The students visited www. penguinscience.com, and with the help of Jean Pennycook, a penguin researcher in Antarctica, they created a flag that would fly at a research station there. Students started by creating a number of designs, voting on the final design, then painting the flag. The flag travelled to Pennycook, and upon arrival, it flew for two days at a penguin breeding colony. The flag was designed to welcome visitors to the breeding colony and
to measure wind speeds there as well. “One of their favorite parts of the project was learning about what types of animals/organisms live underneath Antarctic ice. They were excited to have the opportunity to be creative and to design the flag using what they had learned throughout the project, and the flag includes several animals in the water that they remembered seeing in one of the videos,” Wesche said. Northwood Director Mary Beth Sprecher sees great value in Wesche’s lesson for students. “This project facilitated student engagement in critical thinking, team work, and creativity skills, as well as, allowed student learning to reach beyond the classroom. It was a privilege for students to see their work displayed in Antarctica and to collaborate with organizations outside of their school,” Sprecher said. “I am very proud of Mrs. Wesche and her students for their contribution to the penguin project and for representing Northwood so well.” Northwood School is a Special Education program serving students with disabilities in the Raytown School District, grades k-12.
Herndon Culinary Arts Wins Gold At L’Ecole Culinaire
Front row left to right: Morning Class- Cassandra Fox (Raytown High) Christian Graham (Ruskin,) and Nicole Bailey (Lee’s Summit). (Back row L-R): Afternoon Class-Laura Friend (Truman,) De’Ontay Counce (Lee’s Summit,) and Shana Harrison (Raytown South High) Students in Herndon Career Center’s Culinary Arts Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) program recently competed in a Students Taking Action for Recognition (STAR) event at L’Ecole Culinaire on the Plaza. Students studying Culinary Arts in Herndon’s morning session took home the highest score, receiving a Gold Rating. The team will represent Region 14 at State Conference on March 24 at the University of Missouri. Culinary Arts students in Herndon’s afternoon session received a bronze rating. “Our students had the opportunity to demonstrate their
knowledge and skills in a professional competition atmosphere,” Culinary Arts Instructor Theresa Delich said. “This will give them the confidence for the next step in their career preparations. I am very proud to coach these fine young future professional chefs!” Fourteen teams participated and were judged on sanitation and cleanliness, cutting skills, cooking techniques, teamwork communication, plate presentation, and time management. Herndon’s teams prepared “Shaker Style” turkey cutlet with sauce, potatoes parmentier, and sautéed green beans accompanied by a Waldorf salad.
Black History: Too Much “Whited Out” By Brian Lee Some take exception to the fact that only “blacks” have a month solely dedicated for commemorating their history. America is the most racially diverse of all nations, a few of which races were indigenous to the region before the United States even existed, and they don’t have their own month. And just as a side point, the term “black history” really isn’t quite accurate is it? Doesn’t “black” connote all black races throughout the globe? Which are a lot. Aren’t we talking about African-Americans so wouldn’t “African-American history month” be more fitting? In any case, I would like to share a few reasons why having such a black history month is certainly justifiable. While there has been much gained through a greater social intermingling, dialogue, and acceptance between American races now than there ever has been in our nation’s history, there are still looming opinions about blacks which bespeak an uneasy disconnect at large among us in light of recent conflicts in America with regard to “racial profiling.” There are questions still heard today asked among non-black American citizens which belie a lack of understanding with regard to the struggles unique to the black-American culture, and which likely have a direct bearing on the views and treatment of black-Americans: “why are they so sensitive”, “why can’t they just behave,” “why do they have so many kids they can’t take care of,” “why do they have so many on welfare,” “why do they have so many broken homes,” “why don’t they just get over what happened,” “why are their communities’ crimes rates so high,” “why are they always complaining about unequal treatment.” As readers of this article can testify the above “whys” are not something I’ve personally fabricated, but have been heard spoken before, often behind closed doors.
The sad thing is that the askers of such questions, I believe, really honest-to-god do NOT know the answer! They are truly dumbfounded. So if we are going to have a month designated for educating Americans on the unique experiences of black American history, shouldn’t the answer to such questions be properly answered instead of just being whited out? Yes, the questions are sensitive and require tact, forbearance, and understanding so as not to deprive people of their dignity, but such answers could clear away misunderstanding, fear, disdain, and prejudice, and do the African American community a great deal of justice. Most of us have learned about their deportation from Africa, being forced into the harsh conditions of slavery, and the cruel punishment that was inflicted for even the most negligible of offenses. But what does not get discussed is the ramifications of how such conditions have affected black families for centuries! Even up to present-day. The vast majority of black-Americans don’t really know where they are from. My wife, who is black, when asked about her lineage has said “Somewhere in Africa I suppose.” Of course she is never asked this question by Americans, well…, because they know better. It is only foreigners or Chinese associates that have dared to ask. It is human nature to need to know where we come from. Most white Americans or any American race can rattle off their lineage at the drop of a hat, “Dutch and Irish on my mother’s side, German and French on my father’s.” “Oh, and we got a little bit of Indian blood on my father’s father’s side.” Only descendants of slaves have no such identity, but despite that, they have created for themselves a rich new Black American Heritage. Because slaves were treated as property, they could be sold and bought for the right price at any given time. Husbands, wives and
children were often torn apart from each other and given to other slave owners. Slave husbands had new wives swapped out, and black wives had new husbands swapped out. Black slaves were treated as cattle for breeding. Black slave women were to produce as many babies as possible, the more slaves the more property a slave owner had. Black slave men were encouraged to do the same. They were treated like animals because they were viewed like animals. What kind of psychological impact does that have on a person? What environment does that breed among people? How can a person learn fidelity and faithfulness, how to be a good husband, how to be a good father? How could children have a sense of security, self-confidence, and belonging? This system of slavery lasted for centuries and its lifestyle was ingrained into black culture. When slaves were finally emancipated, they weren’t given a thing to prepare them for the future. No education, no trade, no skill, most couldn’t read or write, and they were expected to go out and make a living to provide for their kin. For most the only job they could get was sharecropping because it was the only thing they knew how to do. The conditions weren’t a whole lot different than slavery. Our ancestors all had it rough, but no other American race, has ever had to endure what black-Americans have. Despite these conditions, many black-Americans have “beat the odds” as we often hear, risen out of bad neighborhoods, overcome a system seemingly set up to keep them down to accomplish amazing things in the fields of music, dance, sports, performing arts, science and technology, politics, etc. A common misconception Americans have is that just because “This is modern America”, “There is no more slavery”, “There is equal opportunity available for everyone,” doesn’t mean old hab-
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