JOY OF DISCOVERY
“A good beginning is of great importance” VENERABLE CATHERINE MCAULEY
WMA classrooms are filled with students who are exploring new ideas, reaching new heights, and achieving academic success.
Celebrating and Honoring Black History Month s a Mercy school, we are committed to fighting racism and celebrating people of color throughout the entire school year. We also honor and recognize the importance of placing
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Waldron Mercy Academy
an additional focus on African Americans during February’s Black History Month. This year, science and art were included in the programming in addition to lessons in social studies, language arts, and of course, religion. Students of all ages created artwork influenced and inspired by Black creators. Preschool students looked at photos of the quilts of Gee’s Bend before making their own interpretations with strips of paper. In seventh and eighth grade, students researched, listened to, and drew portraits of African American jazz musicians. Our halls were adorned with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. “This project allowed them to understand, appreciate and connect with the origins of the music they enjoy today,” explained art teacher Patty Papatheodore. In science, students in seventh and eighth grade researched and presented information about Black scientists who were influential in the fields they were covering in class. Other highlights of the month included Montessori reading picture books daily about
and by Black authors; morning prayer announcements highlighting Black saints; short history lessons in Community Gathering about influential African Americans in Philadelphia history; fourth grade learning about the tenets of Catholic (and Mercy) social justice linked with their social studies curriculum on the Civil Rights Movement; and kindergarten students presenting inspirational Black Americans to their classmates. Top, left: Fourth grade students created art inspired by Faith Ringgold. Top, center and right: Geometric preschool art inspired by the Gee’s Bend quilts. Left: An eighth grade portrait of jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. Above: Seventh graders gave presentations on influential scientists of color.
