Students Reflect on Their Modern Day Heroes

Reflecting on Modern Day Heroes

Black History Month expands students’ understanding of the Black experience in American history. But one teacher in Akron, Ohio wants her students to see that Black history isn’t something that happened in the past — it happens every single day through each of them. She worked with our Student Reporting Labs program to record these reflections from students. Read the summary below and watch the short video clip from Student Reporting Labs, and then answer the discussion questions. To read a transcript of the video, click here.

• At the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio, teacher Angela Whorton asked her students to name their present-day heroes, either celebrities or people in their own lives who inspire them.
• Students named public figures like Simone Biles and also family members whom they looked up to.

Discussion Questions: Modern Day Heroes

• Who are some of the heroes the students in the clip name?
• What is Black History Month?
• When and where is Black History Month celebrated?
• Why did the teacher in this piece want students to explore living people as inspirations?
• How can learning about inspiring lives help students achieve their own dreams?

Then have students share with the class or through a Learning Management System (LMS).

Focus Questions

1. Who is a modern day hero of yours that you think will be looked back on as an important figure in the history of this moment?

Media Literacy: How was this segment produced? Who do you think put together the video clips that were used in the piece?

Dig Deeper: Participants can read this piece on the ways students can understand their own role in history.

Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Extra.