Students Respond: What are you most looking forward to in Chicago?

Only $2,000 more to raise! We need your HELP!

HELP! We are inches away from meeting our goal to send a group of 25 on Solomon's Great Migration to Chicago. Help send underprivileged students to Chicago.  In less than a month, students will embark upon the trip of a lifetime.

On our voyage we will visit 3 colleges, tour the Art Institute, Chicago History Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Willis Sky Deck and relive history by visiting Bronzeville and Hyde Park on the South Side of the city.  Between all the different sights and educational experiences, this trip will  inspire students to think of the world in a new way.

Be part of this important project. Help us reach our fundraising goal of $16,000. We are 88% of the way there. Help us get to a 100% fully funded trip.

Donate today!

Jacob Lawrence and his paintings of the Great Migration

Artist Biography

One of the biggest population shifts in the history of the United States occurred during the period around World War I as hundreds of African Americans left their homes and farms in the South and migrated north to industrial cities in search of employment.

Jacob Lawrence grew up knowing people on the move. Indeed, his own family was part of the first big wave of migration between 1916 and 1919. His parents met while they were en route to New York. His mother was from Virginia, while his father was born in South Carolina.

Lawrence was born in 1917 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. When he was 13, the family moved to Harlem in New York City. There Lawrence went to school and attended an after-school arts-and crafts program. It was during this period that he decided to become an artist. At first, he just made designs but later

progressed to painting street scenes.

Inspiration was not far away. Friends and teachers helped him understand how his own experiences fit into the history of all African Americans in the United States. He also spent countless hours at the Schomburg Library, reading books about the great migration.

In 1940, at the age of 22, he began his Migration series. One year later it was completed. The series consisted of 60 numbered panels that told the story of the people who made the choice to move away from their homes. In his own words, “. . . I wanted to show what made the people get on those northbound trains. I also wanted to show what it cost to ride them.” Each panel measured a mere 18" x 12" (45 cm x 30 cm), but altogether they made a powerful and moving statement.

Great Web Resources

Experience Lawrence's "Migration Series"

Click HERE to see the play created by Greenville Renaissance Scholars about the Migration.

The Great Migration by Jacob Lawrence (HarperCollins Publishers, 1993).

Fundraisers Exceed Goals!

As we enter our final month of fund-raising efforts, we have had some great successes!  Thank you to all who made our fund-raising successes possible!

Here is an update by the numbers:

• $878 raised through admissions and refreshments at our school dance
• $1,600 in donations from local Greenvillians and supportive family and friends! THANK YOU DONORS!!!
• 6,000 Krispy Kreme donuts sold
• Our second donut sale starts 2/1, if you are interested in ordering a box for $6 email us here.
• 2,000 Chocolate candy bars sold
• Upcoming Valentine's Day homeroom competition and "Sweets for your Sweetie" sale

Only $3,500 more to raise!
Let's keep up the good work!

Click here to make your tax deductible donation to the Solomon Great Migration 2011!

Delta Democrat Times: Solomon students hope to hit the "Great Migration" trail

Solomon Middle School “Great Migration” students (from left), Ricarsha Mobley, Semoria Doss, Dakayla Allison, Jimmy Barber and Dashaun Johnson discuss their travel plans with teacher Greg Claus. Twenty-five students from Solomon are anticipating making the trip to Chicago in mid-March. The group will leave by train and return by rail similar to the experience made by the Blacks who fled the South 80 years ago.




EVERETT CHINN
everettchinn@ddtonline.com

GREENVILLE – Twenty- five students from H. W. Solomon Middle School have their eyes set on the
school’s second annual passage to The Windy City to trace this country’s Great Migration.
The Great Migration occurred 80 years ago when seven million African Americans left Mississippi and surrounding southern states and moved north. The students need to raise $16,000 by March to go on the field trip. Students began raising money by selling 6,000 Krispy Kreme Donuts, 2,000 chocolate bars and hosting a school dance.
Time is ticking down and the students only have about six weeks left before deadline. “I feel that it is extremely important for students to have educational experiences outside the classroom that challenge and inform their perspective,” said Greg Claus, trip organizer and Solomon Art Teacher. “It is our goal to
have Solomon students to be inspired about other places and cultures after traveling to Chicago and learning about the Great Migration. Education is more than memorizing grammar and facts – it is about inspiring the mind. We hope to inspire the students through this field trip.”
Samuel Evans, principal of Solomon, said he is pleased to have his students exposed to life and various opportunities outside of Greenville and the Delta. Evans said students can only grow from events such as this.
According to Claus, the class will spend four days in Chicago, seeing the neighborhoods where southern migrants settled, and learn about their heritage.

New Trip Logo

Logo was designed by '11 trip participant Jameese Conegie and her brother.

Help support Solomon's Great Migration in 2011

Donate Online!


Last year’s trip gave the students the chance to visit three college campuses, create a bond with peers and gain knowledge of the Great Migration that they were then able to share with friends and family. Not only did Solomon Middle schoolers walk away with an educational experience, but their experience will continue to inspire and encourage them as they continue to move through their education.  In addition, Students awed at the tall buildings, were impressed at the hotel’s indoor pool, tried Greek food for the first time and learned how to travel the city by public transportation.

Building on last year’s achievements, we are improving the program this year to reach even more students.  This year we plan to increase the number of participants to 25 seventh and eighth graders.  In addition, we plan on staying an extra day in Chicago to view these additional sites: Museum of Science and Industry, the University of Chicago, and Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

In order to accomplish this goal, we need to raise $16,000 by March 2011 when we will travel to Chicago and students will experience their own Migration North.  Students are also participating in fundraising, by selling 6,000 Krispy Kreme Donuts, 2,000 chocolate candy bars, and hosting a school dance.

By giving at the following levels, you will allow us to provide:

·         $588    A fully funded Chicago field experience for one student

·         $186    Round trip Amtrak transportation for one student

·         $76      “Go Chicago Card” for one student (Includes admission to Adler Planetarium,

Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Sears Tower)

·         $28      Three day Chicago Transit Authority pass for two students

Please consider donating again to this worthwhile cause to help us reach our fundraising goal of $16,000 so that 25 students can travel the Great Migration to Chicago.  All donations will go directly to trip costs, and will be collected by the Corps Member Education Foundation, a non-for-profit fiscal intermediary that is managing our funds.  You can donate online through our trip’s website:

www.SMSGreatMigration.blogspot.com

If you prefer, you may send a check made payable to CMEF with “Solomon Great Migration” in the memo line to:

Solomon’s Great Migration

Attn: Greg Claus

556 Bowman Blvd.

Greenville, MS 38701

All donations are fully tax deductible. Thank you in advance for your consideration and support of our students.