The Freeport Program Without Walls (PWW) is one of the busiest day services hubs in the agency. This month, each of its eight sites let their individuality shine through Black History Month murals while also taking part in a friendly research competition. Each site was tasked with learning about notable Black figures and creating a presentation to share what they learned.
To prepare for the presentations, sites took trips to the library and other community centers to learn more about their subjects.
The walls of Freeport are always decorated to highlight current themes, and February was no exception! Everywhere you turned, artwork celebrated both Valentine’s Day and Black History Month.
The ladies and gentlemen at Site 7 were especially creative. On their door, they created a sign that reads, “Fall in love with Black history,” and on either side, murals were created. They mounted colorful drawings of iconic Black people including Rosa Parks and Madam C. J. Walker.
Aubrey Glover was especially proud of his colorful cut out of the African continent. “I like to draw and color. I like to make a lot of art,” Aubrey said. Noah Ackereizan’s contributions to the mural were images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., along with Michelle and Barack Obama.
At Site 5 Michael Walker chose to learn about Frederick Douglass. He researched his early life and ties to African American civil rights.“Everybody is important,” Michael said about what he had learned.
For their presentation, Lari Duiguid, Direct Support Professional (DSP), suggested the group focus on women inventors. Together they learned about Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, Marie Van Brittan Brown, and Gladys West, whose contributions led to advancements in telecommunications, home security systems, and global positioning system (GPS) technologies, respectively.
“It was a conversation we were all having,” Lari said. “I went through a list of Black women, and they took interest in these three women because these are inventions we interact with every day.”Susan Limiti, Activity Specialist, organized the friendly competition between sites as a fun and engaging activity. “I think it’s important for people to learn about different people’s contributions,” Sue said. “I sure learned a lot!”