Crossroads Middle School students presented quotes, music, rhetoric, and powerful images to our community just days before Martin Luther King Day. The assembly began with our sixth grade students who recited quotes by heart. Chosen by each student, the quotes spoke to the difficult years in which Martin Luther King, Jr. raised his voice for freedom. We listened to music by The Freedom Singers and The Golden Gospel Singers, feeling the strength, power, and unity that these songs would illicit during such troubling times. The seventh graders recited rhetoric to showcase the power of words, repetition, and how words can persuade audiences when used skillfully and artistically, just as Martin Luther King, Jr. did. Eighth graders concluded the assembly by introducing us to the inspiring words of Joseph McNeil, Julian Bond, Diane Nash, and John Lewis who led some of the first “Sit-Ins,” peacefully demonstrating their right to equality by “sitting down to take a stand” at their local Woolworth’s store. Students have been learning about civil rights and equality during the month of January as well as focusing on the Core Virtue of Courage. The virtue is fitting as we learn and appreciate the hard work of these important historical figures as we strive to be courageous and continue to fight for what is right in our current age.
