Lab Rat
With the death of Coretta Scott King I thought it was time to share why Martin Luther King Day is my favorite federal holiday. Yes, there are plenty of other good federal holidays that offer that necessary three-day weekend, but MLK has a special place in my heart.
For nine years (that's K-8) I attended Martin Luther King Junior Laboratory School, or King Lab for short. There were a lot of things that I loved about my school--the small classes, the fact that I knew everyone, the 7-11 next door--but MLK Day had an obvious significance. Every grade had a role in the all-day, all-school assembly that we would have every year. In first grade we recited the Langston Hughes poem, Hold Fast to Dreams and I still remember it. In fourth grade we sang, Abraham, Martin and John, and in seventh grade we partnered with second graders to sign We Shall Overcome.
My participation in the assembly was always peripherial to the two main events: showing Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech in its entirety and the teachers' chorus. There was a sense that Dr. King was part of our school when we watched that speech on the projector. It isn't very long but it's completely enthralling and it was the only time during the assembly when everyone was truly quiet. Shutting up an auditorium full of kids is no easy feat, but that speech did it every year.
The opposite of this moment was when the teachers' chorus took the stage to sing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. With only a handful of teachers in the audience to control us, we would jump up and yell and dance as the teachers did their best to quiet us from the stage. I don't know how actually talented the chorus was as a whole, but every year Mrs. Young (a seventh and eighth grade English teacher) had a solo and she was amazing. Mrs. Young's singing transformed our school into a Southern Baptist Church and we were just singing and clapping along. When I got Mrs. Young for homeroom in seventh grade all of my friends were jealous.
In high school, we never had a single all-school assembly because there wasn't a single auditorium that could fit all 2,700 students, teachers, staff, etc., but we would discuss Dr. King's legacy throughout the day. In college, MLK Day was one of our only official days off during second semester, and so I always took advantage of it outside of the symposiums and lectures that were being held in his honor. But I also think that no discussion or lecture really rang true to me as the proper way to honor this day. There was something about the raucous and participatory nature of our assemblies--the length, the dependability, the anticipation--that made them unique and very personal, and I don't think there is a better way to celebrate the day.
King Lab forever.
For nine years (that's K-8) I attended Martin Luther King Junior Laboratory School, or King Lab for short. There were a lot of things that I loved about my school--the small classes, the fact that I knew everyone, the 7-11 next door--but MLK Day had an obvious significance. Every grade had a role in the all-day, all-school assembly that we would have every year. In first grade we recited the Langston Hughes poem, Hold Fast to Dreams and I still remember it. In fourth grade we sang, Abraham, Martin and John, and in seventh grade we partnered with second graders to sign We Shall Overcome.
My participation in the assembly was always peripherial to the two main events: showing Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech in its entirety and the teachers' chorus. There was a sense that Dr. King was part of our school when we watched that speech on the projector. It isn't very long but it's completely enthralling and it was the only time during the assembly when everyone was truly quiet. Shutting up an auditorium full of kids is no easy feat, but that speech did it every year.
The opposite of this moment was when the teachers' chorus took the stage to sing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. With only a handful of teachers in the audience to control us, we would jump up and yell and dance as the teachers did their best to quiet us from the stage. I don't know how actually talented the chorus was as a whole, but every year Mrs. Young (a seventh and eighth grade English teacher) had a solo and she was amazing. Mrs. Young's singing transformed our school into a Southern Baptist Church and we were just singing and clapping along. When I got Mrs. Young for homeroom in seventh grade all of my friends were jealous.
In high school, we never had a single all-school assembly because there wasn't a single auditorium that could fit all 2,700 students, teachers, staff, etc., but we would discuss Dr. King's legacy throughout the day. In college, MLK Day was one of our only official days off during second semester, and so I always took advantage of it outside of the symposiums and lectures that were being held in his honor. But I also think that no discussion or lecture really rang true to me as the proper way to honor this day. There was something about the raucous and participatory nature of our assemblies--the length, the dependability, the anticipation--that made them unique and very personal, and I don't think there is a better way to celebrate the day.
King Lab forever.
posted by Libberash at 10:33 AM
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