In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, middle school Preuss scholars visited the Balboa Theatre to watch SchoolYard Rap’s media production “Soy Asombroso”, which celebrates the history of Latin America.
Students got to watch dancers, including Aztec dancers, singers, and actors perform about the history of Latinos. The songs portrayed events such as the hardships of immigrants coming into the U.S, and the story of the Battle of Palo Alto, and beyond.
“I really enjoyed it, it was really fun and me and my friends got to learn a lot. For example, like, “I didn’t know that a Latina woman created the beauty blender!” ,expressed Maria Loureiro (‘29).
SchoolYard Rap is a Black-owned company that has been working in the media and production industry. It has a main focus of enhancing students’ learning experiences by implementing interactive curriculum, music, dance routines, and much more. Along with the many captivating performances they present to students, SchoolYard Rap has made many connections with organizations that strive to create equal education experiences for all. The program’s mission is to “uplift the narratives of minorities..work to build awareness, knowledge, and competencies for excellence.”
Its founder, Brandon Brown, otherwise known as “Griot B”,attended University of California, Davis, and Pepperdine University, and was a prominent school leader in Richmond, California, before establishing SchoolYard Rap. His exceptional work gave the school recognition for being one of the Bay Area’s top public schools. He also managed to have an impact on the number of students being suspended. He later went on to become a school teacher in Inglewood, California, where he embraced the use of hip-hop in classroom settings. Brown realized that his strategy of incorporating hip-hop into his teaching was a success and set out to bigger and better things with the name of “Griot B”.
Brandon, being of West African descent, chose to derive his nickname from his culture where a “Griot” was an exclusive individual who was to be committed to telling the history and guiding the ruler of his or her kingdom, with music and storytelling. He presents himself as the Griot for all the young learners today.
Ms. Brown, our vice principal; Mrs. Weidemeir, the Spanish teacher and the advisor of Multicultural Empowerment Club; and Middle School ASB all worked together to put together this field trip after the county offered Preuss the trip on a short notice. Even though they ran into many complications regarding transportation, show times, the number of tickets available, permission slips, and school lunches, the field trip was still a big success and many middle school students attended.
“It was a highly engaging and fun learning event for scholars,” reported Ms. Brown.
