Barton JH resource officer helps school ‘Take ‘Em Back’

‘Time capsule’ serves a live Black History exhibit

EL DORADO — To close out Black History Month on a high note, Barton Junior High student resource officer DeQuita Miller teamed up with community members and El Dorado High School’s Thespian Troupe 42 to take Wildkittens back in time and teach Black History through “Project Take ‘Em Back.”

In her three years of service as the school’s student resource officer, she said that she learned that 11- to 14-year-olds are visual, hands-on learners. The project is a visual timeline where students can see, hear and interact with trailblazing figures like Madame C.J. Walker, Michelle Obama and John Rankin.

“What’s different is there aren't any school officials involved in it. It’s people from the community that I just reached out to those that have worked with kids,” she said. “I just went to them and asked them if they would be interested in helping me pull off the impossible because I’ve never done anything like this before, but I just said, ‘Let’s try it and see'.”

When students walk in to the gym, the project will be set up like a time machine and the team will be portraying notable African Americans as they were themselves, she said.

For her, the project has a two-fold meaning: to take them back to a time before certain freedoms were won and bring them back from things like self hate and low self-esteem that may oppress them today.

“I hope to open their eyes to some of the things that actually transpired back then — perseverance,” Miller said. “Nowadays dealing with our children, they don’t like to try and try again … They’ll try it or halfway try and if they don’t get it, then they don’t want to do it. I hope to show them that it didn’t take one try. It took multiple attempts, multiple tries, multiple ideas (to) change this one thing.”

The student resource officer said that she’s learned several things during the planning stages and she hopes Barton students do the same.

“I learned a lot with trying to put this together like with Rosa Parks. Yeah, she’s known for refusing to give up her seat on the bus, but she wasn’t the first that did it,” she said. “(The exhibit) would be depicting the other 10 women who refused to give up their seat before she did, that actually brought all of the attention to it. Some kids don’t have any idea.”

Though she acknowledge that one sector of American history isn’t more important than another, Miller said that she wants students to “see their history instead of being told their history.”

“Maybe (they’ll) get a chance to live it a little because in the gym part, we’re going to do our take on the Underground Railroad because some of the kids I was talking to really thought it was a railroad underground that was more so like a tunnel to help people escape, she said. “It was actually trails and they came to different houses … The art teacher here (Helene) Lambert, who is absolutely amazing, had the kids recreate some of the quilts that were on there that served as warning signs or gave directions to keep going.”

If Miller could portray someone at the exhibit, she said that she would portray Olympic track and field athlete Florence Joyner, affectionately known as “Flo Jo.”

“That’s my favorite athlete and track is my favorite sport. I watched her growing up. She was so smart, dedicated and motivated. She motivated people, encouraged people … She wasn’t just about track and field. She was about living life to the best of her ability and helping other people live their life with no limits.”