LJHS class writes civil rights book, shares it with Central students

[February 14, 2014]  The eighth-grade Accelerated Language Arts class at Lincoln Junior High School has written a book entitled "The Heroes, The stories of Civil Rights Leaders of the 20th Century" for elementary-aged children.

"Heroes" is a civil rights reference book of 25 known and not-so-known civil rights leaders who fought for freedom and equality in making our world a better place.

In honor of Black History Month, a presentation and reading day was scheduled with District 27 third-graders at Central School at 10 a.m. Thursday. The eighth-grade authors shared their work with third-graders and presented them two books for their classroom libraries. The book is geared toward readers at the third-grade level.

This reference book is the result of the eighth-graders' in-class study of the Little Rock Nine and the autobiographical story of one of those nine, Melba Pattillo. Following the study of the Little Rock Nine and the civil rights movement, students researched their civil rights leaders, and each wrote a first-person biography explaining the contributions and sacrifices these leaders made to the cause of equality and justice.

Sixty years after the fight for equality, many civil rights leaders are still well remembered; many, however, have received scant recognition. Thus, the uniqueness of this book is to recognize not only those we all know who made a difference, but also those behind-the-scenes men and women who sacrificed, struggled and may have even lost their lives working to ensure equality for all. This book is dedicated to those within its pages and all people who were determined to bring equal rights to their fellow man.

Eighth-graders wrote the book for a specific audience — early to mid-elementary-aged students — and had to evaluate style, format and reading level necessary to reach their young readers.

The eighth-grade authors of this reference book are excited to share their work, not only as a culminating activity in their study of the Little Rock Nine, but also as a way to promote liberty and justice for all, while also recognizing black Americans.

[Text from file received from Lincoln Junior High School]