Ligon Reads Project Part of 50th Anniversary Celebration
March 2, 2005 - Ligon Middle School will continue its 50th anniversary celebration with LIGON READS - a unique school-wide reading program that will bring students, staff, alumni, parents and community leaders together to read and discuss the same book. The LIGON READS selection, Leon's Story, by Leon Walter Tillage, a Wake County, N.C. native, was chosen for its thematic connection to Ligon s anniversary celebration.Ligon opened as a City of Raleigh Public School for African-Americans in 1954. As the country celebrates the 50-year anniversary of Brown vs. the Board of Education, Ligon celebrates its 50 years as a facility serving all grades: for its first 18 years, an African American High School; later, an integrated junior high school; and today, a Magnet Middle School of Excellence.
Leon's Story is the autobiography of Leon Walter Tillage whose father was a sharecropper in Fuquay, NC. Tillage participated in Civil Rights marches and protests just blocks from the then newly built Ligon High School. Many Ligon High School alumni were similarly involved in the Civil Rights movement and will share their experiences with current Ligon Middle School students during the Ligon Reads program.
Ligon has invited alumni and celebrities to kick off the Ligon Reads program on April 5. Invited guests will read to classrooms from 9:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. followed by a reception for guests. Ligon Reads Leon's Story will continue in April during DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time and include readings and discussion led by alumni and other guest readers.
For more information, contact Ligon s Magnet Program CoordinatorMarjorie Salzman at 856-7929.
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