SPRINGDALE(KFSM) -- A local art teacher is bringing history to life in the form of art.
All month long Vicky Swicegood has been teaching her students about famous African-American leaders like Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglas and Martin Luther King Jr.
”I like to introduce them to history and relate it to things that they’re studying and things that will help them grow as individuals,” Swicegood said.
While they work on their masterpieces she explains the leaders story and the importance of the contributions they’ve made to American history.
Each class made portraits and collages of famous figures, after students finished their artwork Swicegood lined the hallways with the pictures and short explanations.
”So often the history of our life is also tells us about our future and our present,” Swicegood said.
As the month comes to a close, teachers thought it would be a nice touch to bring in a local African-American leader. Judge Joseph Wood is Washington County's first African-American judge and he left the students with a few words of encouragement.
”If you go out there and listen, engage, apply and practice you can do and be whatever it is that you want to,” Wood said.
He challenged the students to become leaders in their own right.