In honor of Black History Month, Shaw Avenue Elementary School fourth graders recently participated in a Freedom Quilts workshop with Tiffany Carcamo, outreach coordinator from the Long Island Children’s Museum.

Ms. Carcamo educated the students on freedom quilts, which were used during the Underground Railroad to help enslaved Africans escape to freedom. Students read old newspaper advertisements from the time period and learned about how enslaved Africans were sold. The fourth graders were then introduced to different quilt patterns that represented directions to help enslaved Africans reach freedom.

With the help of Ms. Carcamo, each student created their own quilt patterns. Using a template of the North Star and Flying Geese, two quilt patterns from that time in history, students selected their favorite fabrics and glued pieces onto their template. At the end of the activity, Ms. Carcamo provided each student with a free pass to the Long Island Children’s Museum.