Breaking Barriers

ACES 5th graders have been learning about athletes who have broken racial, gender, and physical barriers in their sport. Athletes like Jackie Robinson and Althea Gibson have paved the way for athletes of color and female athletes to do what they love at a professional level.

To celebrate the accomplishments of these athletes, ACES kiddos conducted research on a barrier breaking athlete of choice and then made paper mache sculptures to depict them. 

Pieces of paper were stretched out to cover tables, and students delighted in rolling up their sleeves to cover their structures in paper mache. After their sculptures had dried, students painted them make them look like baseballs and bats (for Jackie Robinson), waves (for Olympic gold medalist swimmer Simone Manuel), and basketball players (for the 1966 Texas Western Basketball team, the first NCAA championship team with an all black starting lineup).