“Go where no one else will go, do what no one else will do.” – Mary Lyon.

February is Black History Month and March is Women’s History Month,  a time when communities and schools give special attention to learning about the contributions and history of American women and African Americans.

Women who were lucky enough to have received a quality education were more likely to be pioneers in civic activism and make history.  By understanding the history of women’s education one is able to better appreciate how far we have come and the extraordinary women who got us here.

Black History Month began as “Negro History Week,” which was created in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, a noted African American historian, scholar, educator, and publisher. It became a month-long celebration in 1976. The month of February was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.

Research, recognize and celebrate women’s and African Americans authentic contributions through participating in this month’s “Who am I” Challenge!

Empower yourself! Watch the video below and remember no matter what your race, gender or cultural background… there is nothing you can’t achieve!

This challenge will celebrate the accomplishments of ground breaking American women from all walks of life as well as outstanding African Americans in U.S. history by highlighting their accomplishments.

Create a mask that represents an American Women or African American of your choice. Your mask will be used a part of the interactive ‘Who Am I?” display.

Your mask should include:

• historically important facts about your person. (i.e. professional baseball second baseman)
• aesthetically pleasing, fabulous to look at, beautiful, include colors that represent your person (i.e white and Dodger blue)
• include informational images that invite readers to guess, “Who am I?”
• the mask should lift  to reveal the image of the person, along with date of birth and, when applicable, date of death.
• Due Friday, March 23, 2018.

In addition to markers, paper plates and other craft materials, old magazines and newspapers can be recycled and used for this challenge because you can cut out words and images to add to your mask. You can decorate both the outside and the inside of the masks. Use the outside of the mask to represent who your person was to the outside world and the inside of the mask to represent the private life of the person.

Watch DIY video below to help you get started with your mask creation!

Here is an example of what the challenge should look like. Can you guess, “Who Am I?”