Ryan Scallon is superintendent of Portland Public Schools. He can be reached at superintendent@portlandschools.org.
We are going to take a break from updates on the strategic plan and budget in this month’s column, as I want to use this article to recognize the leading work of the Portland Public Schools, specifically on Black history.
February is Black History Month, a time to recognize all the contributions and the legacy of African Americans to our history and society. The month has been officially recognized since 1976, our nation’s bicentennial, when President Gerald Ford called upon the nation to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
It’s important to have this specific time set aside to underscore the importance of Black history – but it’s not enough. That is why the Portland Public Schools is developing and implementing a Black history curriculum. Having our students learn about the history of African Americans is essential to help them gain an accurate, full and inclusive history of their state and nation.
A new Maine education requirement, “An Act To Integrate African American Studies into American History Education,” was signed into law nearly three years ago. It requires that African American studies and Maine African American studies be added to what Maine students learn in their American history and Maine studies courses. A bill to provide funding and support to that law is currently under consideration by the Maine Legislature.
But our work on our African American Studies curriculum began before the new state requirement and is ongoing. We’re leaders in the state in developing both a Black history curriculum and our new Wabanaki Studies curriculum, which we officially launched this year. We chose to create these curriculums so that our students can have a comprehensive understanding of history and so that all our students can feel represented in what they’re learning. Both curriculums afford opportunities for interdisciplinary learning across all content areas, not just social studies. When these curriculums are fully integrated into Portland’s schools, we plan to share them with schools statewide.
A highly collaborative process with Black education advisers is being used to develop our Black history curriculum, which will use local history to contextualize and connect national and international histories, events, topics and themes with Maine and New England. Full implementation of two units created by the nonprofit organization Facing History & Ourselves is taking place this school year in grades 8 and 10. It is hoped that full implementation for all grades will be in place by the 2026-27 school year.
Examples of Black history Facing History & Ourselves curriculum include an eighth-grade unit called “Choices in Little Rock,” which focuses on efforts in 1957 to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. A unit focusing on the time immediately after the Civil War and titled “The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy” is being taught in 10th grade this year.
Of course, Portland’s public schools also celebrate Black History Month in a variety of ways. For instance, a number of our schools recently hosted performances by Joshua Hughes, who runs his own production company, Joshua Hughes Entertainment, and helped start Rooted Soul Entertainment several years ago. Through the company, he puts on performances to expose students to Black heritage through the power of theater. “Bringing Black culture into the realm of theater here, it’s the reason why I keep doing it,” Hughes explained in a recent news report.
I wish you a celebratory Black History Month.
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