Ferguson Middle School

Ground Control Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ground-control-camp-grades-3-5 Maker Camp Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/spring-breaker-maker-camp-grad

March is Women's History Month. This Month On Wednesdays we will Honor a Woman who helped to redefine the world in Her own way. Today we honor Ella Fitzgerald, an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. For More Information visit: http://www.ellafitzgerald.com/

FMS Staff are excited to be back in the building! Quick pose at Key Pick-up this morning!!

Ready yet? Get Set! The Moment we've all been waiting for is upon us. Join us February 25th RIGHT HERE on Facebook at 6PM for our Annual Black History Month Program! We are super proud of the work that our students have put in and are excited to showcase off their talents to our families and community! Join us at 6PM Live only on Facebook! Like. Share. Stay Connected! Go Comets!

Today's Moment in Black History Looks at the Red Summer of 1919, with a voice over by 8th grader Keylah Pool In the summer of 1919, race riots broke out across the Nation, in Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Arizona, and most dramatically in Chicago, Illinois. On July 27, 1919, a 17-year-old African American boy named Eugene Williams was swimming with friends in Lake Michigan when he crossed the unofficial line between the city’s white and Black beaches. A group of white men threw stones at Williams, hitting him, and he drowned. When police officers arrived on the scene, they refused to arrest the white men. Violence soon broke out between Blacks and whites in the South Side of Chicago. Riots continued until August 3rd. 15 Whites and 23 Black died and over 500 people were injured, and over 1000 black families left homeless.

Tuesday, February 23, Moment in Black History, Black Wall Street, with a voice over by 7th grader Rondre Phillips. A century ago, thousands of Black Tulsa, Oklahoma residents had built a self-sustaining community that supported hundreds of Black-owned businesses. It was known as Black Wall Street. In 1906, a wealthy African-American land-owner, named O.W. Gurley, moved to Tulsa and bought 40 acres of land that he opted to only sell to African-Americans. He and other Black e...ntrepreneurs named this area, Greenwood. By 1921, Tulsa’s Greenwood District was one of the wealthiest Black communities in the U.S. and a center of Black wealth. The community of roughly 10,000 residents was thriving and supported Black-owned banks, restaurants, hotels, grocery stores and luxury shops, along with offices for Black lawyers and doctors. Unfortunately, on May 30, 1921, due to racial tensions, a race riot broke out becoming one of the worst in the history of the United States. Leaving more than 35 square blocks of the neighborhood destroyed in two days of rioting and leaving between 150-300 people dead. See more

Today's Moment in Black History: February 4 Vice President Kamala Harris Voice Over by E'Mya Scott Kamala Harris is an American Politician and attorney who on January 20, 2021 became the first African-American, first Asian American and first Woman Vice President of the United States. Making her the highest-ranking Woman elected official in U.S. history. Madame Vice President, has also served as the District Attorney of San Francisco, Attorney General of California, and as a United States Senator from California, becoming the second African-American and first Asian American to do so. She attended Howard University, a historically black university in Washington, D.C. While at Howard, she interned as a mailroom clerk for a California senator, chaired the economics society, led the debate team, and joined Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Today's Moment In Black History: February 3 Bayard Rustin Voice Over by Jonathan Moran Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. Rustin started work with A. Philip Randolph on the March on Washington Movement, in 1941, to press for an end to racial discrimination in employment. Bayard brought Gandhi’s protest techniques to the American civil rights movement, and helped mold Martin Luther King, Jr. into an international symbol of peace and nonviolence. As King’s special assistant, Rustin assumed a variety of roles, including proofreader, ghostwriter, philosophy teacher, and nonviolence strategist. Bayard’s work eventually helped organize The March on Washington Event in 1963, where Dr. King gave his famous I Have a Dream speech.

Today's Moment in Black History: February 2 Congresswoman Cori Bush Voice Over by Malachi Miller Cori Bush is an American Politician, Registered Nurse, Pastor and Activist. In the November 2020 Elections she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Missouri’s 1st congressional district, which covers Saint Louis City and most of Saint Louis County. On January 3rd she was sworn in, she is the First African-American Woman from Missouri to hold this position. Her interest in politics began after the 2014 Ferguson unrest, where she worked as a triage nurse and organizer. Cori is a true St. Louis native, she attended Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School, She Studied at HarrisStowe State University, a Historically Black University.

Today's Moment In Black History: February 1 Civil Rights Act of 1964. Voice Over by 7th Grader Shane Elston In 1955, a black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a white man. She was arrested. To protest, blacks in the city stopped riding the busses for a year. This act jump started a movement in the United States for blacks to have equal rights. Martin Luther King Jr. became one of the leaders of the civil rights movement. He pushed for nonviolent protest a...ctions. He believed that no one should get hurt. One of the nonviolent actions was sit-ins'' in restaurants. Blacks sat down in a restaurant and refused to leave. Often, the police came and dragged them away. They wanted the government to enforce the laws that gave them the right to do this. In 1964 President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. This act said that it was illegal to keep blacks from going into a restaurant, riding a bus, or attending schools just because of the color of their skin. See more

February 1st-5th is School Counseling Week. This week we honor the amazing work that Counselors do in supporting students. To our own FMS Counselors Mrs. Sutherlin and Mrs. Jackson we appreciate all that you do for our students!