Sachem North Hosts Black History Jeopardy

Do you know who the first black Secretary of State was? How about the year and details of the famed Plessy v. Ferguson case?

Thirty students at Sachem High School North know the answers to those and many other black history month questions, answering at will in Thursday’s round of Black History Month Jeopardy.

With categories ranging from global history to current events or history from 1775 to present, teams competed in a 30-min session.

“They were going to the library every night studying for this,” said Kevin Miller, a social studies teacher at North, who helped organize the event. “It’s good for the kids. They get to learn about African Americans in our country and all around the world.”

Miller said it would not have been as well executed if not for social studies teacher Christina Santoriello, who was instrumental in getting Citi Bank to donate prizes for students, and for getting Mel Guadalupe, the director of Suffolk County’s Office of Minority Affairs to address the students.

“You learned about culture and we’re very proud,” said Guadalupe, who also presented proclamations for every student from Suffolk County Exec. Steve Levy. “It’s good work.”

Students answered questions on everything from Barack Obama and Jackie Robinson to Nelson Mandela and Brown v. Board of Education.

“We learned a lot about black history and it’s important,” said Chris Piro, a sophomore at North. “Teachers gave us a study guide to learn from to make it a little easier. It was a good time.”