In honor of Black History Month, fourth and fifth grade students from West End Elementary School studied important black leaders during their library periods. Coordinated by Heather LaBarbera, library media specialist, each fourth grade class created large collage posters of leaders such as Ruby Bridges, Shirley Chrisholm, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and Booker T. Washington, while fifth graders conducted research on “unsung heroes.”

Following the creation of their colorful collage posters, the fourth graders researched their individual leader and wrote different facts about their assigned person to place around the portrait. Their completed work will be displayed in the school hallways. 

While researching “unsung heroes,” West End fifth graders compiled a portfolio on the background of their person, their hero’s impact on the world and what trials they had to face to make such a sacrifice. The students will later create a quilt square filled with similar information from their portfolios. Together, they will make a fifth grade Freedom Quilt of all the unsung heroes that were researched.