Students celebrate culture, equality at BHM assembly
- Crete-Monee Blog
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
By Trinity Humphrey
General Reporter
To celebrate Black History Month, Crete-Monee High School held its annual Black History assembly on Feb. 25. The event recognized and honored Black history and culture.
The assembly featured various artistic student performances that highlighted the history and achievements of Black people. Students came together to create performances that shared messages about equality, civil rights, and cultural pride. Through these performances, participants aimed to help the audience understand the importance of Black history and its overall influence on us today.
"I learned that racism still happens to this day and that people are still affected by it,” choir member Ivalise Stupay said, of what she took away from the event.
Stupay also explained one of the main messages that performers hoped the audience would learn from the assembly.
“Just because someone's skin color is different from yours doesn't mean you can be disrespectful and rude to them,” Stupay said.
Students performing in school-wide assemblies or school events, such as the Black History Month assembly, can support students' social and emotional development. According to the Academic Entertainment of Outstanding School Assemblies & Summer Camp Shows article on the role of school assemblies, these events offer students opportunities to express themselves, build confidence, and connect with peers.
Student Seth Butler, who participated in the jazz band, said that being part of the event felt meaningful and made him proud of himself.
“The moment that made me feel most proud was when I was playing and there's like this specific part that I have to play out, and I´m the only person that's playing during that time, and I had to like play louder and when I was practicing everybody said that I was too quiet, and then after the performance everybody was complimenting me saying that I did so good,” Butler said.
The annual BHM assembly was a success, though some performers had suggestions for improving it in future years.
“Next year, I would want the performance to be even more powerful, and I hope that they could get the music to be at a better sound level because it was quiet and harder to perform,” Di’Nilya Smith said.
Overall, the assembly was a success across the student body, as students celebrated culture, learned about the importance of knowing their culture, the important moments in history, and supported their peers who performed.
“I hope that the audience knows that being black doesn't make you a minority; it makes you equal to everybody else,” Butler said.