Teachers weren’t the only people affected by a two-day sick out earlier this month to protest Detroit Public Schools’ threat to stop paying teacher salaries over the summer. Students paid a price, too. “I understand the struggle that teachers are going through,” says Douglass senior James Smith.
When Douglass seniors gathered in March for the annual pinning ceremony, Chase Davis had a dilemma. Traditionally, parents of Douglass students will stand and pin their child during the ceremony.
All records are meant to be broken as the saying goes. Some records tend to seem unbreakable because of how far they seem to be. Through the excellent coaching of Frederick Douglass English teacher Nathan Tedford and dean of students Saleem Shaheed, the school has broken its own records in over five different categories.
Douglass Academy valedictorian Kamar Graves, senior Drake Glover and junior Deon Butler won an Emmy award last month from the Michigan chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for their music video “Peace.” The video was shot in front of Douglass Academy as part of a project for the Lyricist Society, a school hip-hop club headed by staff member Quan Neloms.
On April 8-10, Douglass senior Rashad Littleton competed in SkillsUSA Michigan State competition at the Amway Grand Hotel in Grand Rapids.
The Frederick Douglass Hurricanes have a long basketball history, with three district championships and one city championship in the last five years, and they came within a three-point shot from winning the district championship last year. Redemption could be right around the corner.
Twelve Frederick Douglass Academy ‘Dream Kings’ on Friday, Feb. 12, visited Detroit International Academy (DIA) to pass out carnations with poems on cards. The Valentine’s Day trip to Douglass’ sister school was organized by the school’s Future Project, a Douglass mentoring program with 14 students, known collectively as the Dream Kings.
Black Lives Matter, police brutality, black-on-black crime and being aware of what’s happening in one’s own community congeal lyrically in the song “Peace,” written by a Frederick Douglass Academy senior Drake Glover and featured by junior Deon Butler, as part of a Lyricist Society project. Glover has been apart of Lyricist Society since the beginning of his junior year at Douglass. “The music wasn't very hard to write, but it took some time,” said Glover, who wrote the song with Butler.
Frederick Douglass resource teacher Amanda Morris recently raised money to add technology to her instructional day.
Last summer, Douglass Academy middle school science teacher Sheryl Rucker and ELA Instructional Specialist Christopher Bryant started exercising together. Rucker, a science teacher, said her goal was to lose weight before her wedding next summer.
Douglass senior and varsity quarterback Elijah Juan Pearcy will play fooball at Trinity Bible college in North Dakota in the fall.
