Cedar Rapids kids in learn about Black history in New Orleans

CEDAR RAPIDS — Aiyanna Gervin felt affirmed in her Blackness in a New Orleans hotel getting her hair braided by three “sisters” — peers — in the Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success.

While traveling is traditionally a staple of the six-week summer program for Black students in the Cedar Rapids and College Community school districts, this is the first trip students in the program have taken since 2018.

Students in the 2019 summer session planned to go to New Orleans but were thwarted by Hurricane Barry. After that, students didn’t get the opportunity to travel for three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This summer was different. After six weeks of rigorous academic studies, about 20 students and their teachers traveled to New Orleans to explore museums, food and culture celebrating Black excellence, said Ruth White, who founded the Academy 35 years ago.

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The Academy provides students an education they can’t find in a public school classroom. It teaches students about Black history, literature, math, science and a postsecondary seminar to help students prepare for college and how to be successful once they get there.

While in New Orleans, students toured Le Musee de FPC, an historical house museum dedicated to the legacy of free people of color, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. They ate at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant, which first opened in 1941 and became a meeting place for music and entertainment, civil rights and culture.

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Traveling to New Orleans was the furthest Gervin, 16, a junior at Kennedy High School, has traveled from home. While driving across the country, Gervin said she saw a sunset that made her cry “happy tears,” touched a palm tree for the first time, and found beauty in the uniqueness of the city.

This was Gervin’s first year in the program, and she left feeling more prepared for the school year. Gervin said she learned how to take notes in class, be a curious, active listener, and project when she speaks in class.

She also began practicing saying affirmations to herself such as “Your Black is beautiful,” “You’re a light in this dark world,” and “I am safe.”

Last year, a wellness class was added to the program, which included gardening — in partnership with Linn County’s Sustainability Work — a mindfulness practice and yoga.

Gardening ties directly to the history of Black Americans — from enslavement to emancipation when Black people were allowed to farm for themselves, although in many cases the farmland wasn’t theirs, White said.

Gardening continues to be important with one out of every five Black households in the U.S. living in a food desert, with few grocery stores, restaurants, and farmers markets, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Students grow up not really knowing where food comes from. This is an opportunity for them to put their hands in the dirt and see something grow. The historic thread is very strong,” White said.

Gervin began baking zucchini bread to bring to class because of the bountiful harvest from the Academy’s garden. “Every time I would make it, they would eat it all up,” she said.

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Chanelle Thomas, who teaches history and literature at the Academy, said this summer “reignited my flame” for teaching.

While students are academically challenged in the program, Thomas said the most important part is how they learn to “become comfortable with themselves” in a community where they feel marginalized.

“It’s giving language to describe someone’s lived experience,” Thomas said.

John Ross is a former student at the Academy who graduated from Kennedy High School in 2017 and now teaches math and science. He said it’s a “privilege” to be a role model to Black boys and girls in the program.

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Ross said he learned from the Academy that he’s able to “achieve everything I think I can and more,” even though he had teachers and counselors trying to steer him away from advanced classes while in high school.

In 2021, Ross told The Gazette he was once accused of cheating on a math test at Kennedy after he earned an A. School guidance counselors suggested he enroll in “easier” classes, even with his high 4.3 grade-point average.

“When school feels like a place that isn’t safe or fair, they know there’s people in their corner,” Ross said.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com