Black History Month Celebrations, Feb 2025
Jacob Muune
International School of Portland integrates Black history throughout the year, with a special focus during Black History Month. For 2025, the theme has centered on African American inventors and innovators, emphasizing their contributions to everyday life. Weekly assemblies feature figures like Garrett Morgan and Marie Van Brittan Brown, whose inventions shaped modern safety and technology. Classroom activities range from student-led research projects and poster-making to themed read-alouds and performances, including a visit from storyteller and dancer Habiba Addo. Specialists in English, arts, and physical education highlight figures such as hip-hop pioneer Kool Herc and artists like Faith Ringgold and Alma Thomas. ISP encourages ongoing discussions about Black history beyond February, ensuring that marginalized stories take a central place in education year-round.
International School of Portland supports the Center for Racial Justice in Education in its statement: “Ensuring the ongoing integration of Black history and experiences throughout all curriculum is imperative as educators continue to uplift every student and reinforce that Black Lives Matter everyday.” Our school does not reserve discussion about Black history and Black lives only for February. Instead, we follow the “Do’s and Don’ts” year round. However, for Black History Month, our faculty does place special emphasis on Black Americans.
Every year, the Association of African Life and History suggests a theme. The theme for 2025 is African Americans and Labor. To make this as kid-friendly as possible, we narrowed the focus to inventors & innovators. Without the tireless work, inventions, and innovation of these Black Americans, our lives would be very different today. This theme broadens out the content and experiences of Black American influence and gives a powerful perspective to frame the work that we have done this month.
To begin the month and add some consistency for our students, ISP's Instructional Coach and Curriculum Coordinator, Lauren and Jacob respectively, have begun each week at the Monday morning Elementary assemblies by highlighting two African-American inventors. They have focused on telling the stories of people who have traditionally been marginalized, people whose stories have contributed to the success of America, but their stories have been relegated to the 'margins,' an aside that never gets to be 'the point'.
As teachers have worked to support these stories, there have been many different ways that classes have celebrated Black History Month. Looking forward, we also have a Black History Month read-aloud on Wednesday, Feb. 26th at 2:45 in the Library, as well as performer Habiba Addo joining us for two shows earlier in the day, who uses dance and storytelling to celebrate Black history and shine a light on stories that have been kept in the margins.
Paula Cano, Head of Early Childhood (PreK, LowK, Kinder) has been hosting read-alouds that have been focusing on introductory messages around skin color and differences in the way we see ourselves and each other. Using a Black History Month 2025 Padlet created by our Instructional Coach, teachers in both Early Childhood and Elementary have been able to introduce their students to inventors, connecting with their units around the idea that anyone can be an inventor/innovator, and that all of us can add to what is already there.
While our English, Library, Performing Arts, Visual Art, and Physical Education specialists have been celebrating People of Color all year long, February has allowed them time to have purposeful conversations about why we may not have heard of these people previously, and to highlight why it’s important to make space and focus on the accomplishments of Black people. From Kool Herc’s musical innovations that formed hip-hop to the many athletes that excel in the world of sports, to the artistic stylings of Jacob Lawrence, Tyree Guyton, Faith Ringgold, and Alma Thomas, specialists have put a focus on bringing Black stories into their spaces. English classes have used this time to go deeper as researchers, using these stories as inspiration for their own memoirs, and exploring how Black authors have used their backgrounds and culture to influence their storytelling.
Our Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese homerooms have engaged with Black History Month in as many ways as there are classrooms. Fourth grade saw a group of students put together a celebration for the month, focusing on why we have this special time to celebrate. Some classes have chosen to focus on one inventor/innovator together, while others have seen students choose an individual and look into their lives by themselves, eventually sharing out with their peers. Some classes have made posters, while others are still working on culminating projects to be displayed later this week. There have been read-alouds in classrooms, movies and performances, questions and discussions, all reinforcing the idea of “why do we celebrate Black History” this month.
As we move toward the end of this cultural heritage month celebrating Black History, we are trying to encourage our students and each other that these conversations should be happening all year long, in any space or capacity in which we are able to. Some of these questions and conversations may be difficult or uncomfortable, or may not have an available answer, but it is all of our responsibility to continue to take these stories out of the margins and display them front and center.
Jacob Muune
IB PYP Curriculum Coordinator
International School of Portland