For the last several years, RV has celebrated Black History Month with varying events school-wide and encourages students and staff to join in on the experience. RV’s events build and expand each year. This coming February, the high school is celebrating with activities, performances, guest speakers, learning opportunities and much more.

Mr. Joseph, the English and World Language supervisor and member of the RV Diversity Initiative, points to the variety of events for students this year, including “book talks, films and presentations.”

RV’s Black Student Union is also taking part in the celebration as they plan to hold a spirit week to celebrate African-American contributions to American culture, art and music. This is in addition to the school-wide decorating initiative spearheaded by the BSU, which has decorated doors and hallways to celebrate Black culture.

Many members of the BSU point to the increased importance of observing the month amid growing tensions surrounding the teaching of Black history in public schools and misinformation concerning Critical Race Theory, which is not taught in any New Jersey public school.

“The school has really embraced and welcomed our input this year, which is fantastic,” said Mrs. Sherman, adviser to the BSU. “We have had a lot of support from [Mr. Joseph] and the Diversity Committee to take Black History Month to the next level.”

“I think by having these events, people are more involved with Black History Month,” said senior Nia Plair, the Black Student Union secretary. “Instead of just maybe reading a fact from a newspaper or something, they’re actually doing an activity or they’re learning and hanging out with their friends.” 

The entire student body is encouraged to get involved and learn about what Black History Month truly stands for. In addition to the BSU, there are a number of other clubs who are hosting and supporting activities, including the History club, National Honor Society and the RAWN relaunch team.

“Each group is trying to do something a little different, so it’s kind of all coming together on one calendar,” said Mr. Joseph. Of the school’s efforts to create something engaging with Black History Month, Mr. Joseph notes that “the most important thing [is that we] get to work with different groups of people and learn so many unique things that [we] might not have encountered before or even thought of.”

Last year, students from RV attended the I Am Black History Conference and HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Summit. The conference educates students on African-American culture and experience. This year, the school has added a trip to the African-American Museum of Philadelphia at the end of the month.

There are also plans for multiple lessons to be taught to students during tutorial and I/E periods. The lessons range from historical presentations about movements such as the Black Power Movement to book talks previewing Black writers to a Black history Kahoot game featuring Mr. Joseph and Mr. Martin.

“We wanted to make it as fun as possible and really include the whole student body, so it’s not just the BSU,” said junior Kayla Reed, a member of the BSU executive board. “We wanted to make it so everyone gets the learning experience across the whole school.”

Countless events are being planned everyday by hardworking students and staff that plan to make this year’s Black History Month an unforgettable one. You can check out the calendar of events here.