JOIN US FOR ABRACADAFRICA!
01/08/09 4:00pm - 7:00pm

AbracadAfrica is a celebration of the African continent's diverse physical and cultural landscape. Over the course of the year our students have created African art, enjoyed African music and learned about the physical geography of Africa. During our AbracadAfrica celebration we will all have the opportunity to venture out across a giant map of Africa the students worked to create together. The evening will begin at 4:00 in the Spencer Center with a performance of Rhythm in Motion: Sunu by Manga African Dance.

Increasing our knowledge of the African continent includes raising awareness of the challenges facing its 54 nations. Among these challenges, providing quality education is of the utmost importance for the sustainability of progress throughout the continent. In order to highlight one nation's efforts toward building a viable education system for its young people, we have invited Lenus Perkins, the proud parent of a Highlands fourth grader, to discuss the realities facing Liberia; the place where he was born and raised. After leaving Liberia on the brink of conflict, Mr. Perkins returned home some 20 years later to find his country in a state of rebuilding.

Mr. Perkins and others documented the efforts of educators, politicians, and even the children of Liberia in order to bring to light the challenges they face. While the outlook is bright for Liberia's children there are still many obstacles to overcome. Lenus's film features teachers, administrators, and children discussing the progress they have made in recent years and their profound desire to continue to improve the quality of life for Liberians through education. Please join Lenus at either of his two sessions, 5:30 or 6:00, in the Styslinger Learning Center for an enlightening documentary and discussion of education in Liberia.

An Evening Full of Activities

In addition to Mr. Perkins's presentation we have numerous simultaneous activities scheduled through the evening.

See the giant map of Africa created by Highlands students in the gym, and stop to have dinner (by prior reservation only).

In the Learning Center explore the African Art Gallery of work also created by our students.

• Preschool students made African Weaver Birds out of clay and worked in pairs to make nests out of string and glue.
• Kindergarten students made interesting bead/bean designs on their Ndebele (in-de-bey-lay) dolls.
• First graders drew silhouettes and dressed them in traditional Tanzanian Shukas.
• Second graders created dancing African animals to suspend over their African landscapes.
• Third graders made the board game Mancala, originally from Africa, out of clay. They also created Ndebele houses by painting beautiful geometric designs on tag board that we later built into a house.
• Fourth graders had a great time making plaster masks and decorating them around an African theme of their choosing.
• And fifth graders sculpted Egyptian canopic jars out of clay!

These art projects and many former library books will be on display in the Learning Center and offered for sale (art projects are $5.00, books are $1.00.)  All proceeds from this sale will be donated to Nothing But Nets, a grassroots campaign to send malaria preventing mosquito nets to African children.

Ready to be Creative?

If you are ready to be creative, make sure you go by the Encore classrooms in the Spencer Center.  We will have a simultaneous workshops occurring in all the rooms from 5:00 to 7:00.  You can hear stories and prepare some African foods; participate in games, toys & music that kids from Africa enjoy; make a flag from your favorite country in Africa, create an African animal puppet, or make a musical instrument.  You can also have your face painted, participate in an African drum circle with Get Rhythm, and may get to see a few African animals up close courtesy of the Birmingham Zoo.

 

This will be a night that the entire family will ENJOY!

AbracadAfrica - 4:00-7:00pm, Thursday, January 8th. Highlands School will provide shuttle service to and from Mtn. Brook Swim and Tennis beginning at 4:00 and ending at 7:15. Please do not park along the drive into either parking lots of the school or on Old Leeds Road. We will have some spaces reserved in the back parking lot for special guests.