In honor of February being Black History Month, students at Gilbert Classical Academy are hosting a series of events and service projects to celebrate, educate and inspire their classmates. The Black Student Union (BSU), a campus club, is organizing the festivities for the student body. The club is in its first chartered year and was started by students Maya Calixte, McBride Juin and Bryce Harding-Tullis.
“We decided to start the club, not only for us to have a place, but so that we could also inform the rest of the school population,” Harding-Tullis said.
BSU meets once a week at lunch to plan campus events or host topical discussions. All students are welcome to attend and participate.
“It’s really interesting, because we have multiple perspectives in the room and like we are just bouncing off of each other,” Calixte said.
For the start of Black History Month, BSU hosted a dress down day, where instead of wearing their GCA uniforms, students could wear the colors green, yellow, red or black. They also had the opportunity to make a donation to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, which provides scholarships for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the country.
“We raised about $691 plus more. We weren’t exactly sure because more people came in and gave money,” Calixte said.
Additional Black History Month activities will include an art showcase featuring different forms of art created or inspired by Black artists. BSU students will do presentations sharing the artist’s piece along with some historical facts. The club is going to also highlight the influence of Black performers on different musical genres as well as host a book donation drive for underprivileged youth.
“With this, we are going to donate some books and [College Bound] will distribute the books so we can help bridge the gap," Harding-Tullis said.
For their final activity of the month, BSU will partner with other cultural clubs on GCA’s campus to host a multicultural lunch.
“It’s basically where the kids in the school bring food from their culture and it’s a big potluck. Everyone is trying something new and getting introduced to different cultures,” Calixte said.
Whether it’s partnering for an event, making posters or posting to social media, GCA’s campus community has been ready to step up and help BSU.
“There is definitely support from the administration and other people on campus,” Harding-Tullis said.
