THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603080214
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
It was 1955 in the Deep South, where blacks and whites were kept mostly separate from each other. Neighborhoods, schools, offices and seating areas in restaurants and on public buses were segregated by race.
A Montgomery, Ala., woman named Rosa Lee Parks took a bold stand against the unfair treatment of blacks, refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person.
Since then, there's been a world of change in the way the two races treat each other, some good and some bad.
Students at Butts Road Primary School last week celebrated the progress we've made, acknowledged the obstacles yet to overcome and honored Parks, the woman credited with spurring the Civil Rights movement.
First-graders performed a play about Parks' bus protest.
``In our play, you will see how a brave woman changed an unfair law,'' narrated Brandel A. Peterson, 7.
Kids acted the parts of Rosa, the bus driver, black passengers and white passengers.
The play was part of Butts Road Primary's activities for Black History Month, celebrated nationally during February. Most area schools have lessons and activities during that month to teach kids about the heritage and contributions of African-Americans throughout history and in the present day.
Bulletin boards in the halls of Butts Road Primary displayed pictures and descriptions of famous African-Americans, such as Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Television personality Oprah Winfrey was featured as the person of the week Feb. 26-March 1.
The play, performed before all the school's students and staff in two performances on Feb. 27, was the centerpiece of the month's events.
Before each of the performances, second-grade teacher Mary Angela Daw read a book by Patricia C. McKissack.
First-grade teacher Jody L. Jeffries, a member of the school multicultural committee that plans Black History Month activities, said the play was designed to capture the attention of the kindergartners through second-graders who attend Butts Road Primary.
``It's a lot of work,'' she said, trying to calm her excited class after a day of successful performances in the school's cafeteria/auditorium. ``But it's worth it, because it really allows the children to remember. They'll always remember Rosa Parks because of this play.
``They'll remember this more than, perhaps, a work sheet on Rosa Parks.''
Many of the little actors and actresses dressed in clothing reminiscent of what people might have worn on the street in the 1950s. They portrayed the scene on the bus when Parks, on her way home from work, refused to leave her seat to let a white rider sit down.
The student audience watched, rapt, as classmates portraying police led Parks off the bus to jail.
``Many people were upset about what happened to Rosa Parks,'' and pushed for reform of the laws requiring blacks to sit in the rear of public buses, narrated Erica J. Weston, 6.
After each performance of the play, Jeffries asked the actors and the children in the audience to recite a pledge, with right hands raised, to respect all people and treat them equally.
``I think they just need to be exposed to other cultures and to know that it's OK to be different and to respect the differences in each child,'' Jeffries said.
It took a month to prepare for the play, although Jeffries said her students learned their lines quickly. Jeffries picked a white girl, Krystal R. Ferguson, 7, to play Rosa.
``I wanted to pick a person who could play the part,'' Jeffries said. ``It didn't matter what race she was.''
All students learned some valuable lessons.
Janna S. Kirby, 6, learned ``that Rosa Parks was very brave.''
Rebecca M. Case, 7, now knows ``to treat everybody the same.''
``They're young,'' Jeffries said. ``But they soak up everything.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
Krystal Ferguson, in back of a make-believe bus and wearing glasses,
portrayed Rosa Parks.
Second grade teacher Mary Angela Daw read a book by Patricia C.
McKissack.
by CNB