We would like to thank Melissa Wylie and Heidi Tobin, co-chairs of the Creative Arts and Sciences Committee, for all of their hard work planning the special Ruby Bridges program that took place yesterday. Melissa and Heidi have worked hard all year to plan amazing programming for our kids; please thank them the next time you see them around school.
-Carie, Donna, Katie and Wendy
Here is a follow-up from Melissa and Heidi:
Ruby Bridges’ Presentation – Yesterday, students in Grades 2-5 were treated to a 2-hour program by Ruby Bridges, a Civil Rights icon who integrated the public schools in New Orleans in 1960. An engaging speaker, Ms. Bridges outlined the roadblocks her community faced to implement the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. Through a Question & Answer format, she helped the students understand what it meant to overcome these roadblocks one by one. Here are some questions to engage your child about this program:
Q: What do you do when you don’t agree with a law?
A: You have to challenge it in court, and you better have a really good case.
Q: What did the Black community do when the governor of Louisiana said: ‘I’ll integrate first grade or nothing. Take it or leave it.”?
A: They “took it,” because they had been fighting for integration for 6 years.
Q: How did the 137 Black six-year-olds who took the White school entrance exam feel?
A: Initially, they felt the weight of their community’s expectations. Ultimately, most of them felt sad and angry, because the test set them up to fail, and only 6 girls passed.
Q: How did President Kennedy facilitate integration in Louisiana?
A: He sent in teams of Federal Marshals to escort and protect Ruby Bridges and the other 3 girls, who attended another elementary school.
Q: Why did Ruby Bridges hide her lunch in the supply closet?
A: She wanted to go to the cafeteria for lunch, because she was lonely and thought other students would be there to make friends with.
Q: What kind of candy did Ruby Bridges compare the Williams student body to?
A: “A bag of M&Ms, and it’s really neat.”
Q: What is the message in Ruby’s story?
A: It doesn’t matter what you look like, it’s what’s inside. If you give a person who’s different than you a chance, you might just make a friend for life. (That’s what happened to Ruby Bridges and her teacher, Mrs. Henry, who was, and still is, her best friend.)
The Creative Arts & Sciences Committee would like to thank the Williams PTO and the Foundation for Racial, Ethnic and Religious Harmony for funding the event. Additional thanks to Michael Lorant for tech support, and Erin Giesser and Maura Butler for organizing the book-signing.
