It’s February, and besides the mask mandate controversies, winter weather days, and kids handing out valentine cards, many schools across America are also teaching students about important people and events in Black history.
As a white high school librarian who worked in Chicago Public Schools for 15 years and now in a suburban high school just outside the city, I have seen how different schools provide different learning experiences. I began my career at Corliss High School on the Far South Side, which served a predominantly Black population. I fondly remember carpentry students designing and building a museum-like exhibit of the Underground Railroad that students and teachers eagerly came down to visit. The exhibit ended up running beyond February.
