The month of February honors Black History nationwide, and at St. Joseph’s Academy,
students and teachers throughout the school worked to commemorate Black History Month
through special projects, classes, and events. Black History Month at St. Joe was truly something
special!
To kick off the month at SJA, Diversity Club brought in food trucks and hosted music
festivals.
Many students and alumnae also actively participated in a Black Entrepreneur Round
Table, an event in which powerful Black women talked about how they conquered barriers to get
where they are today.
“I was really interested in how the Black business owners went after their dreams,”
freshman and host Adrienne Ward said. “They had good advice for anyone, even if you didn’t
want to be an entrepreneur.”
Additionally, teachers around the school saluted Black History through special projects.
Mr. Tim Kohler’s Freshman Honors English class read Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged
Bird Sings.
“Reading Angelou’s book really opened my eyes to the importance of learning Black History,”
freshman Olivia Hattrich said. “Maya’s words brought me to a whole new understanding of what
it was like.”
In the Library, students were invited to celebrate Black History Month in the form of modern
literature. Book Club hosted a February meeting to honor Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give, and
other works of literature written by Black authors. The meeting’s attendees chose a book and
discussed its importance and the importance of Black authors in modern writing. St. Joe’s
Librarians and attendees of the book club described the event as “enlightening.”
“Allowing students and teachers to choose any book by or about an African American brings a
lot of new information and awareness about another culture, possibly different from your own,”
Ms. Jennifer Millikan, librarian, said.
Ms. Pam Williams, an administrative assistant to the president, is a regular at book club,
