Topeka Public Schools to commemorate Black History Month

Middle school students enrolled in the Topeka Public Schools’ College Prep Academy will perform a living museum on Saturday, February 23, at the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library.  

“Saturday, from 10 am to 1130 am, our students, through the College Prep Academy, will be at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library putting on a “live museum”, basically, where they will be highlighting historical figures from American history,” said Topeka Public Schools Communication Director Misty Kruger.

The focus of this year’s event is to highlight the lives and achievements of historical activists, including Huey P. Newton, Nina Simone, and Angela Davis.

“They (the College Prep students) are really trying to highlight historical activists from American history and they were some of the folks the students have been studying about and they selected to represent as part of the living museum,” said Kruger.

Around forty students were chosen for the inaugural College Prep Academy which allows middle school students to prepare for life beyond high school.

“These students are students from Eisenhower and Chase Middle Schools who spend half of their day at College Prep Academy where they are learning advanced curriculum in really preparing for life after high school,” says Kruger. “They are learning what it takes to get into college and being exposed to our business partners.”

During the 2019-2020 school year, the district plans to expand the College Prep Academy program to include select students from all of their middle schools.

“For next year, we’ll be expanding College Prep to all middle schools,” says Kruger. “Currently we have around forty students and we will more than double that next year, as we’re, actually, going to add additional sessions of the Academy. So, we’ll have morning sessions and afternoon sessions next year.”

For more information about the College Prep Academy and the “Living Museum” event at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, visit https://www.topekapublicschools.net/site/Default.aspx?PageID=1508.