After bad winter weather twice cancelled our St. Francis School Black History Program, it was decided to combine some of the songs from that program with the Spring Concert. The following are the results.
Part I….The Legacy of African American Spirituals
First on the Program were the Pre-K and Kindergarten classes with a delightful arrangement of; “Over My Head”, “Do Lord”, and “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho”.
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- Pre-K and Kindergarten
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- First Grade
With a rousing warm up the program moved into the First Graders singing; “If I Were a Butterfly”. Our Second Grade class took us back to the old spirituals by sharing their lively version of “Down By the Riverside.”
Second Grade
Next came a beautiful Praise Dance by the fifth and sixth grade young ladies. Their inspiring rendition was done to the music of “Take Me To the King”.
Part II….Voices From the Past for the Future.
The second half of the program began with a recitation on the life of African American, Ida B. Wells followed by the spiritual “Through It All”.
Third Grade
Following this piece was the song “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen”. This old spiritual spoke clearly to the trials that were part of the life of Frederick Douglass.
Fourth Grade
“I’m Coming up Lord” put into song life’s struggles experienced by Booker T. Washington. A brief sketch of his life and the inspiring song was done by the combined fifth and sixth grade with some solo parts.
The members of the St. Francis of Assisi School Choir performed, “His Eye Is On the Sparrow” with reference to George Washington Carver.
St. Francis of Assisi School Choir
As a tribute to Sister Thea Bowman during this year marking her 25th death Anniversary, the entire school body sang her signature song, “This Little Light of Mine”. Their performance was marked by all of the life and movement which Sister Thea put into singing with her students. The members of St. Francis of Assisi Parish treasure the memory of Sister Thea Bowman’s many visits to our church where she would sometimes join the parish choir. She had a contagious gift for life.
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- The students really “got into” this familiar song.
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- Sister Mary Ann thanking to the families and friends of our students after the program.
Sister Thea Bowman, F.S.P.A. was born in Yazoo City, MS. in 1937 and died in Canton, MS. March 30, 1990
Taken from a portrait of Sister Thea painted during her battle with cancer. This copy hangs in St. Francis Church.