DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — A group of Northmont High School students is spotlighting Black History Month with a special art project.

The project, called Black Excellence: Then, Now and Forever, highlights the history and contributions of Black Americans, past and present, local and national, according to Northmont art teacher and department chair Chrissy Hall.

  • (Photos courtesy of Northmont High School)

The project was created after a group of senior Northmont student leaders started the Northmont Black Student Union (NBSU) this school year with the help of their club advisor, Lorenzo Burke, a teacher at the high school.

Students involved with NBSU asked the school’s art department to have students help create portraits and the ELA department to have students write bios on the individuals, Hall said.

Over 500 Northmont students throughout the art, language arts and social studies departments helped create the artwork and bios for this project. The NBSU leaders then collected all of the work and created the display in the main hallway of the high school.

“This was an endeavor for our students to both find out about their roots in depth and also be able to share it with the community,” Hall and Burke said in a joint statement.

“It was a cross curricular project that involved students and teachers of all races and backgrounds. It was truly an incredible effort and end result by the Northmont High School student body.”

The group’s goal was to put a highlight on black historic figures who usually don’t get recognized. Trinity Ancrum a ‘core member’ and founder of the organization says the group wanted teach their peers and the community things that are usually not in curriculums.

“ThiS year for Black History Month. We wanted to try to honor people who are not really honored in our community and who are lesser known in our community. So we use a lot of different people from Dayton, Ohio. We also use people from all over Tennessee, different places, Washington, D.C., all that good stuff. So we try to honor those people who we don’t learn about in the classroom. So that was like our mission for this whole project,” Ancrum told us.

2 NEWS continues to celebrate Black History Month by recognizing the accomplishments of people making an impact on Black arts and culture. You can read about more about how the Miami Valley community is honoring the month here.