Penn Hills High School students honor Black and women's history with project

With February being Black History Month and March Women’s History Month, Penn Hills High School English teacher Rachel Schifino had students develop artwork based on literature that recognizes both.

“We’re creating a collaborative slide show of image macros (posters) to showcase the beauty and experiences of Black women through the voices of Black female poets,” Schifino said.

Each student created a poster that focused on Black pride and empowerment using one or more lines of poetry. The class also analyzed the poem “won’t you celebrate with me” by Lucille Clifton as somewhat of an introduction to the project.

“We’re currently working on a unit about the human experience that explores art forms as expressions of life,” Schifino said. “It only felt natural to design an English project that showcases literature written by Black women. Unfortunately, the everyday experiences of Black women are often left out of mainstream education, so I felt that the best way to honor their stories was to step aside to let their voices speak directly to the students through poetry.”

Sophomore Krista Hopkins selected “Sky Diving” by Nikki Giovanni, which she said “explains that each person must capture the essence of life and stand up for what they deserve until their days are over.”

“Working on this project shed light on Black excellence in literature and its huge inspiration on young African American poets’ writing style today,” Krista said. “I learned that, historically, many Black women used poetry as a tool to express themselves positively while sharing their identities, struggles and success throughout their lives. This project showed appreciation to many African American women who made Black history and did what they loved.”

Students wore masks and socially distanced while working on laptops.

Sophomore Taylor Roach said there were many more talented Black female poets than he thought.

“It was very fun and interesting looking at all the different poems by strong African American women,” Taylor said. “It was cool to see their perspectives on how they see themselves, but also on topics like racism.”

Schifino said she was proud of her students and wants them to remember this experience throughout their lives.

“My hope is that they feel a sense of encouragement and inspiration to tackle something that might seem daunting,” she said. “Poetry speaks from one heart to another in a way that other literature cannot. It can be inspirational and powerful, moving and profound. I know it seems lofty for a small project, but my ultimate hope for my students is that they can find their own voice empowered so they can take action in this world.”

This project was just one of many that Penn Hills students worked on as part of the districtwide historic celebration.

First graders got to write about any African American that was special to them. Others learned about Ruby Bridges, the first Black student to integrate an elementary school in the south.

Sixth graders completed a text-dependent analysis about Jackie Robinson, the first Black Major League Baseball player.

More examples of Black and women’s history month projects, including photos, are available on the district’s Facebook page.