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The Muse, in partnership with the Norfolk Academy, is calling for multi-genre submissions from local high schoolers for a literary journal called “Just A Phase” to be published later this Spring.
The deadline is April 1st. In the summer we plan to have a reading to celebrate its launch (hopefully in-person.)
The goal of “Just A Phase is to create a literary journal that accurately reflects what high schoolers are writing now (during the pandemic). Other than a limit of 2,000 words, the only other real limitation is that the student-produced work was written during the pandemic. However, your writing doesn’t have to directly focus on any aspect of the pandemic.
Help the Media Arts and Design (MAD) Academy welcome guest speaker Cynthia Bond during our next MAD Live! on Friday, February 26, 2021 at 12:00 pm.
MAD Live! will be an interactive Q & A session open to all students interested in learning more about Ms. Bond and her novel, Ruby. Please join us! *When: Friday, February 26, 2021 at 12:00 pm.
Cynthia Bond is a New York Times Best-Selling Author. Her novel RUBY was chosen to be an Oprah Book Club 2.0 selection. RUBY was also a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and an Indie Next Pick. A PEN Rosenthal Fellow, Bond attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, then moved to New York and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She founded the Blackbird Writing Collective in 2011. Cynthia has taught writing to at-risk and homeless youth for over fifteen years, and is on staff at Paradigm Malibu Adolescent Treatment Center. She is currently completing the second book in the RUBY Trilogy. A native of East Texas, she lives in Los Angeles with her daughter.
Distinguished journalist, educator and activist Charles E. Cobb will deliver University of North Carolina’s 2021 African American History Month Lecture on Tuesday, February 23 at 6:30pm EST via Zoom.
Cobb1 is a founding member of the National Association of Black Journalists. As a field secretary with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), he originated the idea of Freedom Schools as a part of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project. The memo he wrote described a project where schools should be designed to “fill an intellectual and creative vacuum in the lives of young Negro Mississippians.”
UNC’s African American History Month Lecture is an annual tradition that brings leading scholars and activists whose work centers on the lives of African Americans from both historical and contemporary perspectives. The lecture is open to the entire campus as well as the surrounding community and is the University’s major programming initiative to recognize the importance of African American histories nationally, statewide and on campus.
If you are interested earning extra credit for attending this virtual event, continue reading below.
CHALLENGE | What do you think of Mr. Cobb’s African American History Month? What did you learn? What was the most interesting about the lecture? What was the least interesting? Why? After watching the lecture, what questions did you walk away with? Explain in detail with examples to support your ideas.
*Extra Credit:
Activity
Points
Points Verification Task(s)
Attend the entire African American History Month Lecture at 6: 30 pm on Tuesday, February 23, 2021. Click here for the Zoom link.
Submit a screenshot a moment from the Mr. Charles E. Cobb Lecture
Respond to the challenge questions.
*Complete the verification form before 11:59 pm on February 25, 2021.
Brief Biography: Charles E. Cobb began his career as a journalist in 1974 as a reporter for WHUR Radio in Washington, DC. In 1976 he joined the staff of National Public Radio as a foreign affairs reporter, bringing to that network its first regular coverage of Africa. From 1985 to 1997, Cobb was a National Geographic staff member. He is the coauthor, with civil rights organizer and educator Robert P. Moses, of Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project (2002) and the author of On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail (2007) and This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible (2014). While a visiting professor of Africana studies at Brown University in the 2000s, he designed and taught a course called “The Organizing Tradition of the Southern Civil Rights Movement.” His current work includes an essay in Ibram Kendi and Keisha Blain’s edited volume 400 Souls: A Community History of African Americans 1619-2019 and a forthcoming book for Duke University Press, tentatively titled Get in the Way!: Protest, Politics and the Movement for Black Lives. ↩
A student 1 found this awesome stop motion film of Horacio Quiroga’s “The Feather Pillow” on YouTube and recommended that I check it out. It’s absolutely worth a watch. 2 Hearing the story in Spanish, however, definitely changes my interpretation of the story’s plot. Sometimes, when you translate a text from its original language, it is difficult to find the same precise word choice and things can become lost in translation.
CHALLENGE | What do you think? Does watching this short film change the way you interpreted “The Feather Pillow” and viewed the main characters? Was something lost in translation when “The Feather Pillow” was translated to English? Explain in detail with examples to support your ideas.
ACT-SO is a yearlong youth achievement program sponsored by the NAACP designed to recruit, stimulate, and encourage high academic and cultural achievement among high school students of African descent. The program relies on the dedication local NAACP branches and the commitment of community and business leaders who volunteer as mentors and coaches to promote academic and artistic excellence. Through this collaborative effort, participating students develop the confidence and skills needed to excel in school and in life.
WHAT ARE THE CATEGORIES OF COMPETITION?
The local ACT-SO Competitions and Award Ceremonies showcase the results of the students’ hard work. Competition winners receive medals and prizes provided by local and regional sponsors and contributors. Local Gold Medalists advance to the National Competition and compete against more than 800-900 gold medalists representing approximately 200 NAACP Branches nationwide and have the opportunity to receive scholarships and other rewards provided by national sponsors.
For more details, click here to view the competition description and point requirements.
WHO SPONSORS ACT-SO?
ACT-SO is sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, and receives support from schools, local businesses, community organizations, churches, foundations, major corporations and individuals.
WHO FOUNDED ACT-SO?
Vernon Jarrett (1918-2004), a renowned author and journalist, initiated the idea of a program that would promote and reward academic achievers the same way sports heroes are honored. The first national ACT SO competition, an Olympics of the Mind, was held in 1978 in Portland, Oregon.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE?
Students of African descent who are U.S. citizens enrolled in grades 9-12 and are amateurs in the competition categories are eligible to participate.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATING IN ACT-SO?
The ACT-SO program is first and foremost a learning experience culminating with both a local and national competition. Throughout the year, students work with local volunteer instructors, coaches and mentors to develop projects and performances specific to their competition category. Additionally participants receive youth enrichment opportunities, including workshops, tutorials, and field trips.
ACT-SO TIMELINE
ACT-SO currently includes 32 categories of competition in the sciences, humanities, business, performing and visual arts, and local and national entrepreneurship/culinary competitions.
LOCAL ACTIVITIES
August / September: Local programs kick off annual ACT-SO activities
September through March/April: Local programs conduct mentoring and enrichment activities
February/April: Local programs host ACT-SO competitions
NATIONAL COMPETITION
March/April through July: Students continue their local mentorship and enrichment programs to prepare for the National Competition.
July: Annual activities culminate with National Competition and Awards Ceremony
Are you interested in earning extra credit for English 11? Then keep reading. You can earn up to (10) points per session.* Please carefully review all of the information below.
ALPS: EEL Instructor: Ms. Rice
Title:Law and Order
Driving Question:Can a different trial verdict be reached following a review and reenactment of the proceedings, rulings, and presentation of evidence?
GHSA: EEL Instructor: Mrs. Lucas
Title: Speak Up!
Driving Question:Can we defend a treatment protocol for a healthcare procedure that has multiple treatment options that are controversial?
MAD: EEL Instructor: Dr. Hill and Mr. Walker
Title: Back2Life
Driving Question: Can photojournalism bring to life the significance of a historical landmark or preservation area in Hampton?
TrAIL: EEL Instructor: Ms. Lane
Title: Profit Power
Driving Question: How can I make a product cost-effective for a consumer?
The Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals has an upcoming Journalism Academy on February 17, 2021, at 7:00 pm (Eastern). If you are interested in attending, use this link to join the Zoom.
The purpose of the Byron Burney Community Journalism Academy is to give students an opportunity to express themselves, utilizing whatever media format they are most interested in.
This month’s session will focus on the COVID vaccine.
You are encouraged to investigate the new COVID-19 vaccines, interview someone about their experience either getting the vaccine, waiting to get the vaccine, or why they have decided against taking it.
Here are a few ways to capture an original story about the new COVID-19 vaccines:
Write a story from an interview about the new COVID-19 vaccines.
Record an interview using your phone. (Make sure you ask permission first.)
Create an animation surrounding the new COVID-19 vaccine.
Design a public service campaign about the vaccine.
Extra Credit:
Activity
Points
Points Verification Task(s)
Attend and participate in the Journalism Academy on February 17, 2021, at 7:00 pm.
5
Comment below 4-5 detailed sentences about what you learned from this experience of participating in the Journalism Academy by 11:59 pm February 19, 2020.
Capture an original story about the new COVID-19 vaccines.
20
Submit your high-quality original story, interview, animation, or public service campaign to Bear Facts for publishing consideration. You must mail me your creation by 11:59 pm March 1, 2020.
SCA has created a Spirit Month Calendar with various activities for students to have fun and try something different/new while on this virtual learning journey.
Each week is focused on a topic and has an activity for that day. SCA requests that you participate in the activities and show your school spirit.
If you do participate, email a photo to nhill@hampton.k12.va.us or share on Social Media using #BruinPride2021!
🙂
PS. If you have any questions or need more information, please respond in the comment section below.
Are you interested in becoming a published author?
