Last modified: Thursday, January 22, 2004
IU School of Education to host African American Read-In
EDITORS: Photos of last year's Read-In and the Matrix Gallery exhibits are available. Contact Debbie O'Leary at 812-856-8031 or devo99@indiana.edu to request copies.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- In connection with a national effort, the Indiana University School of Education on Feb. 2 will host an African American Read-In at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, 275 N. Fee Lane, on the IU Bloomington campus.
The Read-In, which will be held from 10 to 11:15 a.m., is part of the 15th National African American Read-In Chain sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English. Education faculty and students will join local high school students in reading selected poems and passages by African American authors.
"Last year's African American Read-In was a positive event that brought students, teachers, parents, and the university and Bloomington communities together," said Read-In organizer Stephanie Carter, assistant professor of language education. Carter previously organized African American Read-Ins as a high school teacher in Athens, Ga., and at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
Thousands of readers from across the United States are expected to participate in the Read-In on Feb. 1 and 2. On these days, schools, libraries, bookstores, and community and professional organizations will host and coordinate Read-Ins in their communities to help celebrate Black History Month.
This year, high school students designed a T-shirt in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education desegregation case. It will be unveiled at the Read-In. "It is my hope that the African American Read-In will not only become woven into the fabric of Indiana University but also the state of Indiana," Carter said.
In conjunction with the Read-In, Project TEAM and other IU student leaders will participate in a peer panel discussion at noon in the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. Ghangis Carter, director of recruitment and retention in the School of Education, said the students will serve as ambassadors of the School of Education and IU by sharing their college experiences with area high school students.
The School of Education also invites people to visit its exhibits about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the historic Brown vs. Board of Education court decision in its Matrix Gallery on the third floor.
More information on the national African American Read-In is available online at https://www.ncte.org/prog/readin/107901.htm.
