This project was conducted as part of the CIS 650 (Applying Diversity Leadership Theories and Praxis) class during summer 2023 that involved assessing the web information (and more) provided by the Kingsley Plantation property of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve located in Jacksonville, Florida with a focus on African American populations. On this page, I implement a program at my agency to reach Black youth. For my strategic action plan, I have created a program within my preserve that encompasses history, nature, and how humans are impacted by these things. Many of the books that I plan on using relate to nature found in our preserve including manatees, dolphins, and our salt marsh environment. However, some books relate to Black stories that are pertinent to the narrative of Kingsley Plantation. Two of the books selected are All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom written by Angela Johnson and Saving American Beach by Heidi Tyler King. All Different Now is described as "Cotton fields, dusty roads, and the hot Texas sun. One little girl's world looked the same as it always did when she went to sleep. But she wakes to find that everything is all different now". Although the book discusses slavery, it references to the emancipation of enslaved peoples. In order to properly create the story time program I created lesson plans for each book to enhance the sustainability of the program. Saving American Beach is described as "When MaVynee Betsch was a child, she discovered her love for song along the sunny shores of American Beach - a stretch of sand and sea just north of Jacksonville, Florida, that her grandfather had purchased for African Americans to enjoy without being reminded they were second-class citizens. Jim Crow was the law of the land, and there was even a rope in the ocean separating black from white. When MaVynee grew up, she transformed her love for music into a career as an internationally acclaimed opera singer. She traveled the world singing for fans, who cheered in wonder at the power of her voice. But too soon, sorrow returned MaVynee to the shores of American Beach, where she found her childhood refuge in ruins. After the Civil Rights Act and desegregation of public spaces, there was no longer a need for American Beach. MaVynee knew something must be done. So began her second act as an environmentalist, her voice as powerful as ever."
The lesson plan includes the CPALMS standards used across Florida, the materials needed, the step-by-step process, and the post-reading activity. The standards used for All Different Now and Saving American Beach relate to Social Studies and English Language Arts. The lesson plans include pre-assessment questions, reading guidelines, and post-assessment questions. Both pre-assessment and post-assessment questions relate to the history discussed and how it relates to the present.
Resources:
Johnson, A., & Lewis, E. B. (2014). All Different Now: The First Juneteenth. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
King, H. T., & Holmes, E. (2021). Saving American beach: The Biography of African American Environmentalist Mavynee Betsch. G.P. Putnam’s Sons.