Ring Elementary School 3rd Graders Celebrate Dr. King’s Legacy

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at a press conference in 1964 — Library of Congress Image

JAMESTOWN – Students at Ring Elementary school in Jamestown are celebrating the legendary life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ring Elementary School third grader, Charlee Stewart, glues a piece of her Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. project during Meagan Genco’s class.

“How was it different when Martin Luther King, Jr. was alive?” asked Ring Elementary School third grade teacher,m Meagan Genco, to her class.

“Everyone was not treated equally because of their skin color,” said third grader Miles Baker.

Ms. Genco was conducting a lesson on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She thought it was important that the students understood why they had a day off of school in honor of Dr. King.

“I asked my class if they knew why they had the day off and told them that it was in honor of Dr. King. I was amazed to find out the students did not know who Dr. King was and decided that we needed to do a project to learn more about his influential work. I also wanted the students to understand all that the civil rights movement did to change how we do things today, and that it was not that long ago. Many of their grandparents knew of, or were part of, the movement.”

Ms. Genco had her class research information about Dr. King and the civil rights movement by reading different articles including: how he grew up, what segregation looked like in that time period, and how Dr. King and the other civil rights leaders effected change through boycotts and peaceful protests.

Ring Elementary School third grader, Miles Baker, adds the words he used to describe Dr. Martin Luther KIng, Jr. to his project.

To make learning “come to life,” Ms. Genco’s students created flip books that included information the students learned.

Students included: words that describe Dr. King, three ways the world was different long ago, three ways our world is different today because of Dr. King, and write their own dreams for the world.

“My words to describe Dr. King are: determined, courageous, diligent, inspiring, responsible, and enthusiastic,” said third grader Ryan Rivera Jr. “I think he was amazing because he did the right thing.”

The students loved working on the visual project and learned so much about Dr. King’s legacy.

“One way it is different today is that we have all different skin colors together in our school,“ said third grader, Aryana Rodriguez. “Dr. King showed the world that we should love everyone equally.”