Sherman kids create ‘freedom’ quilts to honor Black History Month
SHERMAN — Harriet Tubman, Jackie Robinson, Kamala Harris and Martin Luther King Jr., are some of several dozen Black heroes studied by students at The Sherman School, as part of a month-long project they took part in to celebrate Black History Month.
“When looking into the kind of project the children would be interested in, I researched the important figures in history and the impacts they made — going all the way back to the Civil War and before,” said Kara DiBartolo, The Sherman Schools’ director of curriculum instruction and innovation, who spearheaded the project.
The end result of the project was the creation of “freedom” quilts, which symbolizes the role actual quilts played in history by helping slaves get to freedom.
“When people would hang quilts on their house during times of slavery, it was a sign that their home was safe for a slave to hide in,” said fourth-grade teacher Bernadette Linero, who helped with the project.
As part of the project, throughout the month of February, middle school students at the school visited the elementary school classrooms and read aloud from books about Black heroes.
Books included “Martin's Big Words” by Doreen Rappaport, “A Nation's Hope” by Matt de la Pena, “Your Name is a Song” by Jamilah ThompkinsBigelow and “Luke Goes to Bat” by Rachel Isadora.
Students chose the heroes they were most interested in and glued an illustration of that hero on a quilt made from paper, which each class put together.
Children decorated the quilts with crayons, colored pencils and markers. The quilts also contain short biographies about each hero.
The project culminated Wednesday afternoon when the middle school students returned to the younger student’s classrooms to help them assemble the quilts.
Each of the 10 classrooms in grades K to 5 made a quilt. Each one is unique and highlights different figures in Black history. All quilts are hanging outside of the classroom doors, where they’ll remain for the next few weeks. About 160 students participated in the project.
On Wednesday, Hearst Connecticut Media met with a handful of the students at the school, where they discussed the project and what they learned from the Black heroes they studied.
One of the heroes was Harriet Tubman. “Harriet Tubman led a lot of Black people to freedom from slavery,” 9-year-old Kyra Matasow-Pransky said. “She led the slaves through the Underground Railroad.”
Ethan Michaux, 8, said he admires Jackie Robinson, who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era.
“He was poor when he was born in Georgia and then he went to college and later became famous,” Ethan said.
Ethan said learning about Robinson is inspiring him to try his best at a regional swimming competition he has on the weekend.
“Just like Jackie Robinson, I will work hard and I hope to be in the Olympics one day,” Ethan said.
Ethan also spoke about Rosa Parks, who is known for her role in the Montgomery bus boycott when she didn’t give up her seat to a white passenger.
Ethan said from Parks, he learned the importance of “sacrificing for what you believe in.”
Jonathon Gassmann, 9, said he learned no one should be ashamed of the color of their skin.
He also said he enjoyed hearing about Wilma Rudolph, an Olympic track champion, civil rights and women's rights pioneer. At a young age, Rudolph had polio and wore a leg brace until she was 12.
“She was the first American woman to win three gold medals in the winter Olympics” in track and field, Jonathon said.
“She showed me that if you’re injured, you can still push through it with the help that you get,” he added.
Brooke Enger, who is 9, said she was liked reading about Louis Armstrong, who had a long career as a famous trumpet player.
“He started with nothing and started practicing in a band when he was very young. He got better and better and he ended up having a really successful life,” she said.
DiBartolo, who began teaching at the school in July, said she hopes to make the project an annual event.
She said it’s important for the students to have different perspectives and see how one person “can really make a difference. The students learned how the African American figures overcame challenges and how they made changes. They learned that, regardless of one’s race or background, we can all have an impact on the world.”