ESAA parents are invited to a Community Meeting from 8:30 to 9 a.m. Friday in the Movement Room.

Community Meetings take place one Friday a month and are a great way for classes to share their work and celebrate their successes. The entire school gathers to participate in the meeting.

This month, Mr. Johnson’s third- and fourth-graders and Mrs. Timm’s fourth- and fifth-graders will host the meeting and will share what they learned about slavery.

The students recently participated in a unit on Langston Hughes, an African-American poet and social activist who was an early innovator of jazz poetry and well-known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. After concluding the unit, a group of students did the thinking routine – think, puzzle, explore – about slavery because they were interested in learning more about it, explained ESAA teacher Helen Timm.

“The students then picked the puzzle they wanted to explore,” she said. “From there, groups did the research and came up with a way to present the info at our Community Meeting. There will be a PowerPoint presentation, a drama group, a movement group and a written presentation.”

The meeting will focus on two of the school’s pillars: integrity and compassion. The commitment for February will be hearts, Mrs. Timm said, which the students are making for everyone at school.