Mary McLeod Bethune was the first African American woman to serve as the leader of a federal agency. In 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt named her director of the Division of Negro Affairs. In my research, I’ve discovered that Mary was a leader in early education. She founded the Daytona Educational and Training school in Florida. The school served the children of African American railroad workers. It later became Bethune-Cookman College. Mary helped make education available to everyone.

Mary McLeod Bethune

In 1934, Harry Moore was the head of the NAACP chapter in Brevard County. At that time, only five percent of Florida’s African Americans who were eligible to vote were registered. That means that many people who could vote were not being counted. Harry worked hard to increase the number of registered African-America voters. In sixteen years, he increased the number from five percent to thirty-one percent, more than any other state in the South.

Robert Hayling, an African American dentist organized campaigns against segregated public places in St. Augustine. Although he was beaten by the Ku Klux Klan, Robert did not give up his fight for equality. He joined others in Florida in the challenge of segregation. He asked Martin Luther King, Jr., to take part in the protests against segregated beaches, pools, and motels. Robert’s leadership helped push Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Many people protested segregation.

Wow! There is a rich history of civil rights leadership in Florida. There are so many important and courageous people I could choose to write about. I can’t wait to learn more! I’m glad my class will celebrate diversity by learning about these leaders. Who do you think I should write about?

TLX News Journal: History Activity
Who you think Ruby should write about? Chose one of the three leaders she researched. Use classroom resources to find one more fact about the person you have chosen. Write the new fact in our TLX News Journal.

African-American owned businesses are one of the fastest growing segments of the American economy. According to recent figures from the Census Bureau, the number of new African-American owned businesses grew three times faster than the number of all other new businesses. This is good news for the economy because these new businesses hire workers. When people have jobs they earn money that they spend in their communities buying goods and services. This leads to even more job growth and prosperity.

Most African-American businesses are small businesses. This is important because small businesses are responsible for creating about 70 percent of the new jobs in America.

Florida has 181,437 African-American owned businesses, the third highest number in the country. One of these new businesses is Hello Cupcake in West Palm Beach, Florida. The business is owned by Star Robinson who had worked as a chef on cargo ship for 16 years.

Yum! Cupcakes!

Robinson had not planned on opening a business when he made cake for a friend’s baby shower. He decorated the cake with pastel ducks, bows, and bears that he made from fondant. Fondant is a type of cooked icing that can be tinted with food color and shaped like Play-Doh. The guests loved the cake and told their friends. Orders for cakes poured in.

At first, Robinson filled their orders from his home kitchen. When the business continued to grow, he opened a small bakery in trendy Northwood Village, one of the oldest neighborhoods in West Palm Beach. The area was originally developed in the 1920’s but had fallen into decay. Now, its old-style charm is being restored and shops like Robinson’s are bringing new residents, shoppers, and tourists into the area.

While Robinson bakes a lot of wedding and shower cakes, much of his business comes from walk-in customers looking for an afternoon treat. The shop offers specialty cupcakes in exotic flavors like key lime pie, strawberry swirl, candy bar, or red velvet. 

TLX  News Journal: Economics Activity

Imagine that you are a baker at Hello Cupcake and are asked to create a new cupcake design to celebrate diversity. How would you decorate it? 

Draw a picture of your new cupcake using crayons or colored pencils and identify the flavors and ingredients that make it unique. Be sure to put a price on it.

Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll

Jennifer Carroll is the 18th Lieutenant Governor of Florida. A lieutenant governor is the second highest official in a state after the governor, so Mrs. Carroll holds a very important position. She is Florida’s first female lieutenant governor. She is also the first African-American elected to a statewide office in Florida. In addition to this, Mrs. Carroll is an immigrant and a member of Florida’s Caribbean immigrant community. We can celebrate diversity by recognizing Lieutenant Governor Carroll’s many successes.

Jennifer Carroll was born in 1959 in the city of Port of Spain, on the island of Trinidad. She and her family immigrated to the United States when she was eight years old. Jennifer grew up in the state of New York. She graduated from Uniondale High School in 1977 and joined the United States Navy in 1979. During her 20 year service in the Navy she rose from the rank of Enlisted Jet Mechanic to Lieutenant Commander.

After retiring from the Navy in 1999, Jennifer entered public service. In April, 2003 she became the first African-American female Republican to be elected to the Florida Legislature. Her public service to the state continued in 2010, when she was elected Lieutenant Governor on a ticket with Governor Rick Scott.

Jennifer is married to Nolan Carroll. They have three children, Nolan II, Nyckie, and Necho. Nolan II is a football player for the Miami Dolphins. Lieutenant Governor Carroll believes she is “an example of the ‘American Dream’ come true.” She represents many firsts for the African-American community in the state of Florida. 

TLX News Journal: Civics Activity

Make a timeline of Lieutenant Governor Carroll’s life and accomplishments. Start with her birth in 1959 and end your timeline with her election in 2010. Plot out three different events from her life in the years in between.

Spanish explorers, Native Americans, American southerners, Cuban immigrants, and others have all passed through Florida and changed the state’s culture. One large movement of people from Cuba to Florida was in the late 1800s. They lived in growing communities in Tampa and Ybor City and many of them started cigar-making businesses in those cities. According to government records, by 1900, Florida had the most immigrants of African/Caribbean heritage. New York was second.

Learning about these different cultural histories helps Florida citizens understand their state’s past and why there are so many different types of people living around them today. In Miami, the Little Haiti Cultural Center teaches visitors about the art and music styles of the island of Haiti, which is only 600 miles away from Florida’s southern tip. Also the University of Miami Concert Jazz Band is scheduled to play a concert celebrating the African and Caribbean music traditions that can be heard by some people living in Florida.

Have you ever eaten a meal like this?

The food of Florida that is influenced by its African and Caribbean past uses lots of beans or rice. This is often mixed with whatever meat is available–pork, chicken, fish . . . and sometimes even goat! The food can be spicy, but not painfully hot. It helps that the rice, beans and meat is often served with plantains. Plantains look just like a big banana but can be fried in slices like potato chips.

Fried Plantains look like sliced bananas.

TLX News Journal: Geography Activity

How do you think a cultural geographer learns about different countries food, dance, or dress? Do they ask questions, taking notes and photographs? Why don’t you make a list of questions about the different cultures you see in your classroom or your neighborhood? Find out from your friends if they or their relatives came from a different country.

Each TLX News has four articles focused around a central theme. The theme is explored through the use of an Essential Question. This question connects the TLX News information to the world outside the classroom. The articles are related to History, Geography, Economics, or Civics. As students read the articles, they gain understandings to help them formulate a response to the Essential Question.

Each article has an activity that reinforces or extends the information. These activities are short and intended to allow students to read and respond to all four strands in 45–60 minutes. Each article may also be completed individually.

Vocabulary

The TLX News articles are based on current events. In order to properly convey this information to students, it may be necessary to use vocabulary that is new and possibly beyond student reading levels. For this reason, vocabulary words will be posted for each article page with their definitions.

On the front page of the TLX News site, essential vocabulary will appear in a scrolled menu. This will allow you to preview words that are essential to student understanding of the content.

This Issue’s Vocabulary:

History
•   founded: to start or begin something 
•   eligible: allowed to do something
•   segregated: keeping separate and treating differently

Geography
•    scheduled: a listing of when things will happen

Economics
•   prosperity: having success or money

Civics
•    Lieutenant Governor: the second in command of a state government
•    immigrant: a person who moves to another country

TLX News Journal

This booklet is designed to keep students focused on an Essential Question as they work through each TLX News issue. The front page of the TLX News Journal asks the students to think about the Essential Question before reading the TLX News articles. The Essential Question is revisited after the students read all four articles and complete the related activities. This provides several opportunities for informal assessment of student knowledge and misconceptions.

This Issue’s Essential Question: How do we celebrate diversity?

The middle pages of the TLX News Journal are divided into the four strands. This space will allow students to respond to the prompts found at the end of each article. Prompts are designed using multiple intelligences and higher order thinking skills.

This Issue’s TLX News Activities:

History: Who you think Ruby should write about? Chose one of the three leaders she researched. Use classroom resources to find one more fact about the person you have chosen. Write the new fact in our TLX journal.

Primary Adaptation
Research as a class to find out one more fact about each person in the article. Have each student draw a picture in his or her journal to represent one of the historic leaders.

Intermediate Adaptation
Have students write a paragraph about the historic figure they have chosen. Have them share their paragraphs in small groups.

Geography:  How do you think a cultural geographer learns about different countries food, dance, or dress? Do they ask questions, taking notes and photographs? Why don’t you make a list of questions about the different cultures you see in your classroom or your neighborhood? Find out from your friends if they or their relatives came from a different country.

Primary adaptation
What are some special foods that your family eats? Draw a meal that your family eats during special times

Civics: Make a timeline of Lieutenant Governor Carroll’s life and accomplishments. Start with her birth in 1959 and end your timeline with her election in 2010. Plot out three different events from her life in the years in between.

Intermediate Adaptation
Compare your state’s Governor or Lieutenant Governor to Lieutenant Governor Carroll. Plot out events from their life on your timeline of Lieutenant Governor Carroll’s timeline.

Economics: Imagine that you are a baker at Hello Cupcake and are asked to create a new cupcake design to celebrate diversity. How would you decorate it? Draw a picture of your new cupcake using crayons or colored pencils and identify the flavors and ingredients that make it unique. Be sure to put a price on it.

Intermediate Adaptation
Use this website about young futurists to research. Pick one and draw out a timeline of their life.

TLX News Project

Each TLX News features an integrated lesson plan for a project-based activity. This activity connects and extends the information found in TLX News.

This Issue’s Project: Your class will research and write about diversity.

• As a class, in groups, or individually, have students use classroom or library resources and the Internet to research the diversity of your local area.
• Have each student write a biography of an important person to the history of diversity of your state.
• If possible, have students contact the person they are writing about to interview them.
• Have students present the biography to the class.

Our nation has a tradition of honoring citizens who have done great things. We build memorials to them. A memorial is a large building or sculpture made of stone or metal. Memorials contain images and symbols that represent the people they’re built to honor. Most cities and states in our nation have memorials.

Some of the most famous memorials in our nation are in Washington, D.C., on the National Mall. The National Mall is a large park. It has lots of grass and trees, and spaces for people to gather. Visitors, like my family, can see the memorials, read about our national heroes, and listen to National Park rangers tell our nation’s history. People come here from all over the country.

Building a memorial on the National Mall is no easy task! It requires permission from Congress and the President. Congress has to pass a special law authorizing the memorial. Then, the President has to sign the law. After that, many people have to work together to raise money for, plan, and build the memorial.

The newest memorial is located exactly half way between the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. Can you find it?

The newest memorial on the National Mall honors Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a leader during the civil rights movement. There was a time in our nation’s history, long ago, when inequality was a part of everyday life. African Americans and whites were kept apart by law and by custom. During the civil rights movement, people stood up to say inequality was wrong. This took courage. Martin was a special leader in the movement. People listened to him, looked up to him, and followed what he said.

Martin Luther King, Jr., said people should fight inequality with non-violent resistance. This means people protested peacefully. When violence was used against them, they didn’t fight back. Because of this, other people began to support the protestors.

Martin Luther King, Jr., died in 1968. Though he died, equality continued to grow. Today, people are protected from inequality more than ever.

The Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial opened on August 28, 2011. It took 27 years to plan and build!

The Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial opened for the first time in August 2011. It helps us remember Dr. King’s message of peaceful resistance to inequality. Other memorials on the National Mall honor Presidents and people who served our country during wartime. The memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr., is the first one to honor an African American and a regular citizen. Our country is thankful for the life and actions of Martin Luther King, Jr. That is why he has a memorial on the National Mall.

TLX News Journal: Civics Activity
There are many national heroes who are not honored on the National Mall. There simply isn’t enough room! How do you think Congress decides for whom to allow memorials? Imagine you are a member of Congress. Make a list of character traits and actions that you think deserve a memorial.

The prize can also be shared by two or three people. This year, three people shared the award. This is only the second time this has happened in the history of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The winners this year are Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkol Karman. Click on the map below to learn more about how each winner has helped others overcome obstacles in their country.

TLX News Journal: History Activity
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to someone who made a difference in the world. Think about someone who has made a positive difference in your life. Write a brief summary of how they impacted your life. Present your award in front of the class.

Alexandra Scott is one kid who knew she wanted to help. When she was less than one year old, she was diagnosed with cancer. She fought her disease for a long time. Then, when she was four years old, she got sick again. Sadly, Alex’s case happens to many kids and many adults around the world. Doctors are looking for ways to prevent and cure cancer, but research costs a lot of money. Alex thought of a great way to raise money to help fight the disease—a lemonade stand! Alex and her family sold lemonade in their front yard. They donated all of the money they raised to the hospital.

Kids can raise money by selling lemonade! What other ways can you think of to raise money?

The first year that Alex had a lemonade stand, she and her family raised about two-thousand dollars. The money went to help doctors and scientists research to find a cure for cancer. When people heard about the money that Alex was raising, they decided to start their own lemonade stands. They gave their money to help Alex.

Today, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation is still raising money to help find a cure for cancer. People around the world still donate money. Alex did her best to help find a cure for cancer, but a cure didn’t come soon enough for her. She died in 2004. By then, her lemonade stand idea had raised over million dollars! That’s 500 times more money than Alex and her family raised their first year! Because of the money raised by Alex’s foundation, doctors are closer to helping people beat cancer.

TLX News Journal: Economics Activity
Imagine you have your own lemonade stand. How much do you think it will cost to make the lemonade? How much will you need to charge for your lemonade in order to make more money? What will you do with the money you make? Draw an ad for your lemonade stand in your TLX News Journal.

Sami runs cross-country for her school. That means that she runs races that are about three miles long. Cross-country races aren’t like running track. Runners race on trails in nature and through parks. The topography can be challenging. Sami can’t rely on her own eyes to help her navigate the trails. She gets some help from her friend, Chloe, a guide dog. Chloe wears a special harness. She may need to guide Sami through fields and forests, over hills, and around water. Chloe helps make sure that Sami can run safely.

How far will Sami and Chloe run in they follow this path?

Before Chloe could help Sami run, she had to learn many things. You may remember reading about dogs that are trained to help people with disabilities in last month’s update . Chloe was trained by an organization called Pilot Dogs. She had to learn how to navigate in many kinds of places. Dogs in the pilot dog program train in the city to learn how to get around on busy streets. They learn how to get on and off of buses and even ride escalators. Chloe also had to train with Sami to learn how to guide her in her cross country races. Now they run together in races against other athletes!

Service dogs need special training and equipment.

Getting around in the world without her eyesight was an obstacle for Sami Stoner. But she found a way to keep running. Sami and Chloe are winning this race together!

TLX News Journal: Geography Activity
Imagine you are Chloe navigating a running trail. Write a paragraph about the things that you see as you run. Draw a map to go with your paragraph. Be sure to include a map key.