Black Saga Competition Kicks Off Month of Activities, Programs, and Special Instruction

Elementary competitors display their winning ribbons for their Black Saga knowledge.

All right, everyone - thinking caps on! Do you know the answers to these questions?

• These settlements were safe places for many enslaved African runaways. They were located in the Dismal Swamp, a dense, forested, swampy strip of land along the border between Virginia and North Carolina. These places became permanent colonies of runaways. What were they called?

• This track and field athlete of the University of Michigan won the broad jump at the Olympic Games in Paris. He became the first Black athlete to win an Olympic gold medal. Another track and field athlete made history in the 1948 Summer Olympics when she was awarded the gold medal in the high jump. She became the first African American woman to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. What were the names of these two athletes? 

• In 1843, the United States and British Governments agreed to patrol Africa's west coast to seize ships involved in smuggling enslaved Africans to their territories.  What was the name of the treaty? 

Dr. Charles Christian, founder of the Black Saga competition, addresses the crowd.

The answers to these questions may be found at the bottom of this page, but you would have known the answers - maybe - if you had been part of the annual countywide Black Saga competition that took place Feb. 4 at Randallstown High School.

The exciting contest kicked off a month of activities and programs in Baltimore County's public schools in observance of African American History Month. In the county's school system, the month provides an opportunity to learn more about a vital and fascinating part of the American experience, an important ingredient of the nation's shared heritage that has too often been overlooked.

The Black Saga competition does plenty of exploration into that heritage, and children from across the county have enjoyed its challenges in increasing numbers since the first countywide competition. This year, 68 teams from 27 elementary schools and nine middle schools vied for top honors. The winners will compete March 18 in the state Black Saga championship at Towson University.

The brainchild of Dr. Charles Christian, the author of "Black Saga: The African American Experience," Black Saga tests teams of elementary and middle school students by asking more than 800 questions related to aspects of African American history and culture. In the past two years, Baltimore County fielded more teams than any other school district in Maryland, and teams from Baltimore County swept the statewide Black Saga competition last year.

Teams of students listen intently to questions.

Black Saga underscores the fact that all races and cultures have been a part of American history. Black Saga also helps build study skills and discipline and strengthens community involvement.

At Randallstown on Feb. 4, more than 1,000 proud parents, educators, and community members from across the region watched as teams worked hard to tackle the trivia. The exciting finish produced first place finishes for the Battle Grove A team on the elementary school level and the Loch Raven Academy B team on the middle school level.

The top ten finishers on the elementary school level were, from first to 10^th places: Battle Grove A, Westchester A, Cromwell Valley A, Deer Park A, Church Lane A, Deep Creek A, Cromwell Valley B, Church Lane B, Woodholme B, and Millbrook A. Cromwell Valley and Deep Creek tied for sixth place.

At the middle school level, the top ten finishers were: Loch Raven B in first place, followed by Loch Raven A, Old Court B, Franklin Middle A, Woodlawn A, Deer Park B and Old Court A tied for sixth, Deer Park A, and Woodlawn B and Meadowood tied for ninth.

Students had to work together as a team to come up with the right answers.

While Black Saga provides food for thought, plenty of other learning activities related to African American History Month abound in Baltimore County's schools. Their preparation for the observance and celebration has been made easier by the school system's Office of Equity and Assurance, which provided all schools with materials and information to support appropriate and educational African American History Month activities.

Among the activities going on this month are:

• At Pikesville High School throughout the month, the theme is Celebrating Rosa Parks' Legacy. Students may earn incentives for completing various reading and writing activities, and special events include an "It Takes a Village Breakfast" on Feb. 3 and movie showings and discussions on Rosa Parks (Feb. 2), Buffalo Soldiers (Feb. 9), Sarafina (Feb. 16), Dorothy Dandridge (Feb. 21), and Their Eyes Were Watching God (Feb. 22).

• Students in a writing class at the Rosedale Center in Rosedale have made Black History Trading Cards featuring important facts and points of interest regarding famous African Americans. These cards will be sent to the Children's Inn, at the National Institutes of Health, for its recreation room.

• Author and story-teller Alice McGill visited Deer Park Elementary School in Owings Mills on Feb. 2 to read to children. Her own books include: Molly Bannaky, Sure as Sunrise: Stories of Bruh Rabbit and His Walkin' Talkin' Friends, Miles' Song, Here We Go Round, and In the Hollow of Your Hand: Slave Lullabies.

• On February 6, Loch Raven Academy celebrated the 17th Annual National African American Read-In by reading and discussing literary works by African American authors. The event is sponsored by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English and the National Council of Teachers of English.

• A February 7 assembly on African American Performers: Past and Present was a highlight of the month long celebration at Deer Park Elementary School, with a feature presentation by Maria Broom ("The Story Dancer") about what it takes to be a performer.

• A variety of activities is scheduled for February 13, which is African American Parent Involvement Day across the nation. Schools will welcome participation from all parents in this national event, which in Baltimore County includes the following activities:

• At Ridge Ruxton School, staff, students, and visitors will participate in hands-on educational activities about bus boycotts, the Underground Railroad, African American inventions, and other topics.
• At Mars Estates Elementary, the day coincides with the school's monthly Lunch with Your Child week, so parents are invited to have lunch with their children.
• At Middleborough Elementary, all parents are invited to read with students from 2:45 p.m. until the end of the day.
• At Colgate Elementary, parents are asked to spend some time volunteering in or visiting their children's classrooms.
• At Dumbarton Middle, parents are invited to see the dress rehearsal of a play or visit their children's classes.
• At Winand Elementary - Parents are invited to see their children make presentations about the famous African American inventors they have researched.

• The production of "Black Heritage: Contemporary Voices Speak" during an assembly on Feb. 22 at Loch Raven Technical Academy will be a highlight of the month as well. This event will focus on African Americans currently making substantial contributions to society. The assembly will be organized as an awards show where the winners (portrayed by students), while accepting their awards, will present information about their lives and contributions. "Winners" will include Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston, singer Alicia Keyes, Senator Barbara Lee, author Walter Dean Myers, and artist Margot Humphrey.

• And on February 23 at New Town High School, the school's Communication, Performing, and Visual Arts Academy will host a "Tribute to Black History Month."

For those still perplexed by the tough questions above, the answers are: "maroons," DeHart Hubbard and Alice Coachman, and the Webster Ashburton Treaty.   

Story by Charles Herndon, Communications Specialist. Photos by Diana L. Spencer, Communications Officer and The Social Studies Office.