Martin Luther King Jr. day was Jan. 16 and Imagine Prep held a Rally Around the Flag event on Friday, Jan. 13 to commemorate this day and the works of MLK Jr.

Rallies are hosted in the early mornings before school starts that tackle historical topics or important holidays to bring awareness. These rallies are planned and hosted by the high school student council.

Michelle Baker is one of the two teachers who facilitate the high school student council.

“We have specific holidays/events throughout the year that we hold rallies around the flag for; Martin Luther King Jr. Day is one of those days,” Baker said. “As for planning the event, we usually speak with the Student Council and decide if we’d like to find a guest speaker or provide historical context surrounding the day.”

Baker also discussed the importance surrounding this type of school event

“I think holding rallies around the flag is important because it allows students to gather together and reflect on important historical events. It offers a chance to think critically and reflectively about events that have united us all,” Baker said.

Like Baker added, guest speakers, teachers, or students speak. At the most recent rally around the flag, members of the high school student council spoke. These students were Jacob Dodge, Haley Cowan, Emily Willkom, and Karla Cuevas.

Students were provided excerpts from King’s daughter, Bernice King’s book. 

“We had a student council meeting a week prior and had set up roles for the morning of,” Dodge said. “We got volunteers for getting donuts and juice, we even wrote our speeches by hand.”

When asking Baker and Dodge about the importance of talking about Dr. King’s life, they both agreed that it was something important to reflect on. 

“I think it’s important to reflect on the work of Dr. King so we won’t forget what he has done for this country and what this country was like for everyone before King,” Dodge said. “I hope they just took a moment to reflect on his work and appreciate what we have now.” 

The rally ended up having a good turnout with high school and middle school students attending as well as teachers. Student council hopes to boost these events with even bigger turnouts. 

Rallies are something worth attending because you never know what you’ll learn and by attending you’re educating yourself on important topics. 

“I do think they are a good experience no matter what, but having specific topics or holidays to focus on is important so these rallies around the flag events don’t become redundant,” Baker said. “I do hope we can boost these events in the future and gather more students.”