This year, for the first time, three seniors organized a weekly newsletter for Black History Month that culminated in a special assembly. The students, Ashli Neal, Jada Rodgers, and Emily Shiver, were supported by Dr. Turner and Mr. Hillard.

“We remembered back to our sophomore year when a group of seniors took on the role of sending out emails about Black History Month, and we wanted to bring that back,” Jada Rodgers said.

Neal, Rodgers, and Shiver sent out their first newsletter to the student body on February 11.  It covered a variety of topics, including: Martin Luther King Jr., slavery in the US, the civil rights movement, successful African-Americans, bus protest, & the NAACP.

Emily Shiver said the group wanted “to keep people informed, to spark conversation and to get people pumped about the upcoming assembly.”

The official assembly, held Wednesday, February 20, was nothing like the typical student assembly. The three seniors held a Black History Month Game Show and chose two students from each grade to answer historical trivia questions.

The team to hit their buzzer first was given the opportunity to answer the question on the board. The questions, ranging from multiple choice to true/false, covered a variety of facts regarding statistics, dates, and people of early and modern African-American culture.

If they answered correctly, points were granted to their grade, however an incorrect answer resulted in another team’s chance to guess. The last question, which asked contestants to give the number of African-Americans in the House of Representatives, allowed teams to wager the number of points they would win/lose, based on if they answered correctly.

The junior team answered correctly and ended up winning, while the sophomores came in close for second place. The two winning juniors were each given $15 Chick Fil A gift cards, while the rest of the teams were given Skittles.

After the assembly, Ashli Neal said “I think the assembly went amazing, everyone on stage and in the audience was very attentive and interactive. The assembly did meet my goals and exceeded them as well.”