During a Friday morning session, the fifth-grade students at Will Rogers presented the "Living Museum" to fellow students, teachers and parents, showcasing a portion of the Civil Rights Movement through art and speech. Throughout the outside halls and courtyard portion of the school were fifth-graders providing factoids about Civil Rights leaders, events and topics learned during a unit on the movement, as well as more modern contributors.
"The Living Museum presentation [was] an opportunity for students to showcase a topic that they learned while teaching others about the importance of taking action," school staff said of the event.
Several classes participated in the creation of a poster or art project on their chosen topic, with each student preparing a speech to go along with the visual aid. Will Rogers fifth-grade teacher Monica Gonzalez said that the speeches focused on specific impacts on Civil Rights history, and that each class did things "a little differently" in subject matter and presentation style.
Student attire was wholly unique as well, with many dressing in garb or accessories depicting their topic. This applied to those serenading praise on the impacts of sports figures, such as one student donning boxing gloves for a presentation on Muhammad Ali, and two that selected Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and wore his purple-and-gold jersey.
While many picked poster presentations, Valerie Vazquez decided to go all-out in art, painting a recreation of the August 1963 March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic "I Have a Dream" speech. Vasquez’s own speech guided eager listeners through the story of the day, including Dr. King’s pivot from his planned remarks into the history-making speech.
Gonzalez said that several important Civil Rights-related court cases were also selected, such as Brown v. Board of Education and the Orange County-based Mendez v. Westminster School District case of 1946 that ruled separate but equal schools for Mexican American children in the county was unconstitutional. The Mendez case was a direct influence on the landmark Brown decision in 1954 that paved the way for school desegregation.
Another student, Aaliyah Marcial, focused her research on the Loving v. Virginia case which ruled in 1967 that laws banning interracial marriage violated the U.S. Constitution. Other projects ranged from government and political figures, to entertainment and arts heroes like Nina Simone and Bob Marley.
