She did it! My student, Chloe, won the Lowell Milken Center’s Discovery Award for the Most Outstanding Elementary Unsung Hero Project. This prize comes with $1000 for Chloe. I am beyond proud.
I teach Chloe for her ELA block for gifted education. This means that I have taught her since she was in 1st grade. In 4th grade she told me her great grandfather knew Martin Luther King, Jr.. Then last year, in 5th grade, I came across an article from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH) about the Baton Rouge bus boycott of 1953. I asked Chloe if her great grandfather’s name was T. J. Jemison. She wasn’t sure, so I texted her mother and confirmed it. That’s when I started looking into the Lowell Milken’s Discovery Award. The prize for 2021 opened February 15th, so I sent an email asking if T. J. Jemison would qualify as an unsung hero. Norm Conard responded immediately and told me to move forward with the project.
There were three types of projects Chloe could do: a documentary, a website, or a play. We agreed on a documentary and started researching. By March, we had set up a Google Meet with her grandfather Ted Jemison who lives in Houston. Chloe wrote the questions and led the interview. I recorded and saved it. Chloe then listened and scripted the interview. Every step of this process seemed daunting and required patience, motivation, and persistence.
By the end of the school year, Chloe had written the documentary script, gathered photos, recorded her voice into a We Video, clipped primary source video generously given by WBRZ (a Baton Rouge news station that had done a feature interview with T. J. Jemison), and written a 500 word process paper. Whew!
The hardest part of this project was keeping a 10-year-old child focused and motivated those last few days of school while her regular class was watching movies and playing outside. We both nearly gave up. A few weeks after school ended, Chloe was still editing her documentary video. I was able to get it entered before the July 1st deadline. Then we waited.
Two weeks ago I received an email from Lowell Milken to call them to set up a Zoom interview with Chloe. They would not tell me if she had won, but they said that I should invite the principal and her parents. I also invited our superintendent and the Sped supervisor. Finally on Sept. 22, ten minutes before the interview was going to start, I told Chloe about it. We had enough time to brainstorm some questions that they may have for her. I set her up in front of my computer, signed in to Zoom, and opened the door to let our guests in. She held up beautifully under pressure.
Parts of her interview and a preview to her project were recorded by the Lowell Milken Center. This whole process is why I do what I do, inspiring a young girl to be the best she can be and to make a difference. I am grateful to her parents for their amazing support and to Lowell Milken Center for providing such an amazing opportunity.
To watch Chloe’s documentary (about 12 minutes) click here.
Reflections on the Teche 
Congratulations to Chloe and you and all who supported her project! What a wonderful video — engaging and informative! Thank you for sharing this!
Congratulations to Chloe! What a wonderful project, Margaret. I imagine this girl has great things in store for her. She is lucky to have you as a mentor.
Oh, my, Mrs. Simon and Chloe! Congratulations to both of you! What a great surprise and honor. I had watched the documentary when you posted it on YouTube in the summer. Congrats to you both on persisting. Lovely and celebratory post. (By the way, the link to Chloe’s documentary at the Lowell Milken Center doesn’t seem to be working. At least for me. Maybe my problem.)
I watched the video documentary about an hour ago. Wow!!! Congratulations to Chole. I am so glad to know about her great grandfather Rev. Theodore J. Jemisen. I loved hearing his voice, seeing interviews and pictures and getting to know more about his actions, his beliefs and his beautiful soul. A true unsung hero, but he knew that he was doing God’s work and so he probably did not believe he was a hero, even though he WAS. I would have loved to meet and know him, Chloe. I am so glad he organized the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott. I am sorry that he even had to do it. And all the rest of the conflict that followed. You and your teacher, Margaret Simon, my friend, did a wonderful job and what hard work. I wish I knew how to make a documentary and I wish someone would teach me. I bet it was a long process and took effort, but you are a natural, Chloe. You are a writer and a do-er. I loved your poem, too, and I think I have seen a few of yours before from Margaret. Your parents and family must be so proud of you. Thank you for sharing your family with us. Thank you to your teacher for helping you make this happen but mostly thank you to your great grandfather for showing us how a strong, yet dignified and insistent voice of reason can change the world, even when others resort to violence that is so horrible. PS I LOVE the whole idea of the “surprise” party your teacher made for you. How happy you must have been. You look so beautiful smiling with the flowers that are pretty but not as lovely as you. Keep writing and growing and learning, Chloe. Hugs from a grandmother, teacher and poet. And fan!
Congratulations to Chloe, and to you. I feel like I have watched over your shoulder as Chloe has grown as a passionate learner and writer, and so I share in your pride at all she’s accomplished at such a young age. The world is in good hands.
Wow! Chloe must be so proud of herself. Congratulations to her and to you, teacher! What a wonderful connection to Chloe’s family history and the history of civil rights in the U.S.
Congratulations, Chloe, and to you, Margaret! I’ve read Chloe’s poems when you share them and am so impressed with her work. As a teacher, you must just grateful for the opportunity to be part of this talented young lady education. Smiles all around❤️
Wow!! That is a very impressive project.
Congratulations to both Chloe and you Margaret as her Mentor. She has a very promising future after doing such an excellent job with this project. I also admire you for encouraging her and making it all possible.
Way to go Chloe AND Margaret! So nice to have that extra support! 🙂
Margaret, Chloe’s story/documentary is amazing and how lucky was she to have you at her side since 1st grade! Congratulations!
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Wow! Wow! Wow! Congratulations, Chloe and Margaret! What an accomplishment. It is so important that we lift every voice and sing, and that includes both your’s, Chloe, and your grandfather’s. Well done!
Just amazing! I am a HUGE Chloe fan! Congratulations to both of you! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
That’s wonderful! :))
Bravo to Chloe. This is an amazing project for such a young girl, Margaret. Your work with Chloe over the years has certainly influenced her writing and perseverance. I loved the links you shared and the backstory of Chloe’s ancestor who was indeed an unsung hero. Please congratulate Chloe on this magnificent award that she rightly deserves. This is such an honor for both Chloe and you. She has now become a youth celebrity in the human rights campaign.
Congratulations, Chloe! And Teacher! I’ve enjoyed reading her poems you’ve shared here on your blog, Margaret. Her insights are always fresh and fascinating. There are so many unsung heroes… thank you, Chloe, for working so hard to “sing” the story of your heroic grandfather – for knowing the stories changes us, and the world.