Buffalo Grove Juniors Explore African American Cultural Contributions Via School's Harlem Renaissance Forum

     Buffalo Grove High School is pleased to offer a unique cultural experience for all juniors on Wednesday morning, Feb. 20, when a variety of teachers and students present an interdisciplinary forum on the Harlem Renaissance.  As part of Buffalo Grove and District 214's initiatives, this forum will take a close look at the Harlem Renaissance through the lenses of art, music, history and literature, according to English/Fine Arts Division Head Sandy Beguin.

     "The forum will also educate the juniors on this pivotal historical time in American history and will spotlight the influence of the period on contemporary culture," Beguin said.  "Students will learn about the contributions of celebrated African Americans including Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, Langston Hughes and Augusta Savage." 

     The main emcee for the program will be English teacher Ami Relf, with co-presenters and fellow English teachers Jeff Grybash and Kate Hutchinson, art teacher Michelle Price, Director of Bands Ed Jacabi, Literacy Lab co-director/history teacher Heidi Haen, and history teacher Lisa McCullough.

     Divided into four themed sets: "Struggling against Oppression," "Dreaming the Dream," "Celebrating Harlem," and "Standing Strong," the forum will be presented through a wide spectrum of media.  Each set will include a thematic overview, followed by a combination of poetry and prose readings, an artist profile, and a musical selection.  Powerpoint and visual slide shows and a film clip will be used throughout.  The musical selections include three numbers by the Buffalo Grove's Jazz band, a swing dance set performed by four students from the Expressions show choir, and two songs performed by choral students.

     Beguin, with a great deal of interdisciplinary teaching experience, believes that "interdisciplinary learning offers students a way to connect their learning to a broader whole—to create meaning beyond the compartmentalized classroom experience most kids are used to.  When we cross disciplines and lead students to see how the events of history came together in such a way that the time was ripe for another event to happen, and when we do it through song and art and literature, we have provided the big picture and allowed them to learn in the most natural of ways – through immersion."

     The forum will be enriched with the participation of many students sharing their creative talents, making the educational program even more interesting for the junior audience. Capable tech crew students will be working behind the scenes, the Expressions students have selected and choreographed, and will perform the swing dance number, two junior art students will profile artists of the period, and three speech/acting students will reading select poetry.