By Savannah Edgar

Special to The Luverne Journal

Highland Home School held its annual Black history day assembly Feb. 13. The program is a tradition the school began in 2016, and was led by Adrian Daniels, the program advisor. 

The assembly highlights the African American heroes who have contributed to the nation America is today. It featured many acts and additions. 

Among those were readings of poems such as “Hey Little Black Child,” a praise dance performed by students, pop-art featuring historical black figures made by students, a song performed by the sixth grade class and the fourth grade “Who am I” presentation. These different aspects served to incorporate Black culture into the assembly and educate students on the life of African Americans through the years. 

Daniels commented on the many acts of the assembly and their importance to its message. 

“I make sure that the program is well presented, and we have great representation throughout the whole program,” Daniels said. “The thing I find most rewarding is how well the students present the whole program. We don’t have many programs at school, but I feel this is one of the best ones we present at Highland.” 

He further described his hopes for the message the assembly conveyed. 

“I hope that people can learn from what things African Americans have brought to this country and world,” Daniels said. “I hope students get a great message from our speakers who have done things and made it.” 

The program featured guest speaker Udarius Blair. A graduate of Highland Home High School in 2007, Blair studied at Auburn University to become an engineer. 

He spoke on the theme “African Americans and labor” highlighting the incredible efforts it took for African Americans to be recognized for their amazing contributions. Daniels  presented him a Standing Tall award for his accomplishments. 

Kristenn Threatt also gave a Standing Tall award to Deonte Crenshaw. Janesha Lawson would present a standing tall award to her mother, Jocelynn Bodiford.

Threatt, an instrumental part in the assembly’s production described what the program meant to her personally. 

“This program means the world to me,” Threatt. “To be able to be a part of something that’s bigger than myself, where our African American students are able to learn about people who look like them who have made positive, notable accolades in society, is like a breath of fresh air. All too often, young people are shown negative depictions of African Americans… . It is vital that they know and understand that there’s so much more in the world that they can accomplish besides the negative stereotypes that they are faced with on a daily basis.”