Page 9 - Florida Sentinel 10-24-17

Local
Church’s ‘Community Service Day’ Focuses On Homelessness
Greater Bethel Mission- ary Baptist Church started the day on Saturday, October 7, 2017, with a short pro- gram. Mark Adams, presided.
The downtown church held its Homeless/Commu-
nity Service Day to offer hope to the homeless and others in the community. The special guests were Sascha Cherry, Victim Ad- vocate, Crisis Center of Tampa Bay; and the Honor- able Andrew Warren,
State Attorney, Hillsborough County.
Also on the program were: Rev. Dr. Brett Snowden, Pastor, Mrs. Snowden and Gwen Myers, coordinator. (Pho- tos by Frederick Harris)
These members of Harram Temple No. 23, Inc., all of whom are military veterans, assisted: Terence Cottman, Alvin Walker, Michael Reed, Keith Smith, and James Holmes. Back row, Willie Robinson, Adrian Blount, and Michael Dozier.
Volunteers: Andrannce Abrams, Kathy Boderick, Gloria Shep- ard, Allison Brown, Alana Brown and Debbie Brown.
Representing some agencies: Jocelyn Harrist, Alicia Harrist, Robert Surrey, Khenita James and Derek Williams.
Members of the church’s Deacons’ Board who assisted with the event were: Witt Green, Joe Reid, Council Rudolph, Jimmy Coleman, Lonnie Jackson and Reeche Wise.
These ladies are: Cordel Batchelor, Rosalyn Wise and De- lores Wesley.
Among those who volunteered for the Community Day event was bar- ber, Adam Rodney, who is giving a cut to Adam McKenzie.
Hillsborough School District Recognized By State For Its Teaching Of Black History
High School Thursday to cele- brate the milestone, which began at the behest of the Hillsborough County NAACP. The civil rights organization has championed for years for African American studies to be incorporated into the district’s curriculum.
Superintendent Jeff Eakins said receiving exem- plary status also is a testament of the community’s commit- ment and the district’s com- mitment that “we want every student in every school to un- derstand that history, that journey and how we can make it better moving forward.”
Pursuit exemplary status went beyond meeting the re- quirements, Eakins said.
“We saw this as something not to just be compliant about but the right thing to do,” he said.
Hillsborough NAACP pres- ident Yvette Lewis called the recognition “a wonderful thing” and an example of the organization’s partnership with the district.
“(District officials) invited us to the table, they listened to us,” she said. “It has never been forgotten. This is a part- nership that has many great things to come.”
Middleton alum and former
state Sen. James Hargrett, Jr., – who sponsored bills that championed the teaching of African American history while in the Senate – attrib- uted much of his success to the education he received at the city’s first high school for African Americans.
But that education omitted teaching Hargrett about his
own people.
“One thing I did not learn at
Middleton was African Ameri- can history,” he said.
Now, that history is avail- able to all Hillsborough stu- dents, Lewis said.
“African American history is so important to all of our students and not just students of color,” she said.
The ceremony acknowledging Hillsborough School District receiving exemplary status for the teaching of African American studies was held at Middleton High School. The school’s princi- pal, Kim D. Moore, the superintendent, Jeff Eakins and renowned Black historian and activist, Fred Hearns display the award.
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
When it comes to teaching students the contributions of African Americans to this country, state officials say Hillsborough County Public Schools is doing it right.
The Florida Department of Education’s Commissioner of Education African-American History Task Force recently bestowed upon the district the recognition of exemplary sta- tus for its teaching of African
American history in every area of its K-12 curriculum, includ- ing science and math.
It shares the honor with just nine other districts across the state, including Duval, Leon, and Miami-Dade schools.
The achievement is the re- sult of three years of develop- ing the history curriculum and training dozens of teachers and principals.
About two dozen alums, community leaders, and sup- porters gathered at Middleton
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