On February 28, during second period,  The Spirit Club hosted a Black History Month Assembly.  8th grade students came down to the cafeteria to watch the assembly while the 7th grade students watched, live streamed,  it from their second period classes.

It takes a lot to put together a performance like that and the Spirit Club, led by Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Sampson,  worked very hard to put together that amazing performance. But let’s not forget about Mr.Garonzik’s band students. His students also put together an amazing concert for the school. 

“Our club members were given the topic for our assembly.  They had to research HBCUs and connect the movies we chose with the HBCU representation that are affiliated with them.  They had to research the movies and time period to find unsung heroes in the African American Community,” said Mrs. Miller, Spirit Club Co-Advisor. 

The Spirit Club worked really hard on the assembly.  The members of the Spirit Club started planning this assembly two months ahead of time. 

“We started planning this assembly in December.   In January, we completed all our research, and in February we accumulated our fashion, made shirts, and completed the slides and rehearsals for our show. Our members came up with order sheets to hang backstage, steamed the clothes for the fashion show, blew up balloons, and designed the stage layout.  Our President, Cayla Miller,  and Vice President, Jayci Thurman,  came up with their own scripts and cue cards to read during the assembly,” Miller explained. 

At Winslow Township Middle School we have so many talented students, from musicians to singers to performers.

“8th grader, Alessia Charles, put on an amazing performance for us here at Winslow Township Middle School. She sang a beautiful song, Lift Every Voice and Sing,  on stage. She had practiced for weeks with a vocal coach leading up to the show,” added Miller.

Spirit Club rehearsed day in and day out to put on a great performance for us at Winslow.  

“We started rehearsals two weeks prior to the show, and practiced up until the day of.  Each week leading up to the show we had two meetings in the cafeteria to get organized and to get our club members comfortable with the show and the stage.  Every member had a job, if they weren’t walking in the show they were helping with decorations and backstage orders,” described Miller.

Every school teaches a variety of topics to their students, and our Spirit Club put together a presentation about HBCU Colleges and Universities. The Spirit Club students also made a connection with themselves and graduates of an HBCU college. At the end of the HBCU presentation, the teachers who attended HBCUs were asked to stand and were applauded. Among those were Ms. Collier-Laster, Ms. Smith, and our 8th grade Assistant Principal, Mrs. Upsey.

What assembly would be complete without an interactive aspect? 

Ms Miller explained,” We wanted to show our students there is a world of opportunity beyond high school.  We included trivia segments into the show to keep students engaged.  Students who answered trivia questions correctly received a prize. We are extremely proud of all our members’ hard work that went into putting together an amazing show!”

Paris Sealy, 8th grade student added, “I most definitely enjoyed the BHM assembly, from the singing to the band, from the band to the presentation and the fashion shows , from the presentation and fashion shows to the trivia questions. It was all very enjoyable.”

We can’t wait too what else the Spirit Club has in store for the students and staff of WTMS!