MLK Jr. activity day educates local children

Sam thinks he was brave. Shaina thinks he was a good person who fought for civil rights. Dahnovyn thinks he was a man who taught people about God. Davyana thinks he led people to freedom.\nAll these opinions, black and white, young and old, combine to describe one person -- Martin Luther King Jr. \nWhereas traditional holiday celebrations include impersonal lectures and museum visits, the School of Education held its second annual Martin Luther King Jr. Activity Day with help from the Bloomington community.\n"(King) was a good person because he wanted black people to be as good as white people. They are. The movie and (the Activity Day) showed everyone that today," said activity day participant Shaina. \nChildren from the Banneker Center and Girls Inc. who were interested in making Monday "A Day On Not a Day Off" completed five activities sponsored by the School of Education and the Mathers Museum. The children, ranging from first to fifth grade at Fairview Elementary, made tambourines, were silenced by mathematical equations, heard King stories and sat for an emotional rap and poetry session. The sound of handmade tambourines made of pie tins, paper clips, ribbon and buttons filled the School of Education hallways.\n"I'm hoping they take what they learn here today into their daily lives," said junior Daniel Eliot, president of the School of Education Dean's Advisory Council. "We have fun activities, but we are also teaching them something here today. These kids are young and impressionable, so hopefully they will learn as much as possible."\nEach participating child, clad in an orange T-shirt that read "Striving To Keep The Dream Alive" on the back, entered the auditorium to watch a movie dedicated to King. Images flashed on the screen: a young King unable to play with his white friends, Ku Klux Klan members, King's famous "I Have A Dream" speech and his assassination in Memphis. \nThe children gasped in a questioning response to the pictures flashing before them. \n"How can black and white kids sit next to each other now, but then they couldn't even drink from the same water fountain or go to the same school?" a child asked.\nThe children broke into small groups with IU students and adult leaders after the film to dispel rumors about what they had seen and to talk about the breakthroughs King had made.\nAs the children filed from the auditorium, they were greeted with new school supplies, books about King, prizes and cake, but the real treat was the new knowledge about King with which each child left the School of Education.\n"He was a man that believed everyone should have peace and be free," said Davyana, a participating child. "He did lead people to freedom. My favorite part of today was that we got to know what Martin did and what he's been through. I'm thankful."\n-- Contact Senior Writer Katie Schoenbaechler at kmschoen@indiana.edu