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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- At Wasson High School Tuesday, students learned about black history through the eyes of Rosa Parks -- at least, a guest speaker pretending to be her.

"Rosa Parks was kind of the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott, and it was after she was put in jail for not giving up her seat to a white passenger that is when they decided to start boycotting the bus systems throughout Alabama and that led to more rights," Theresa James said.

James is a social studies teacher at Wasson. Her department organized the day's presentation.

James said it is important for students to learn about black history.

"Currently with the way things are going in history, and seeing how we have the first black president, I think it is important for students to understand the events of the past that have made it possible for today," James said.

"To show what African Americans have done for the country, to help it progress," senior Janeeta Marshall said.

Many Wasson students agreed with James and said more often than not school books skip over black history.

They said names like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks are well known, while others have been lost in time.

James said it is important to celebrate black history all year round, not just in February.

"Given the student base that we have, we have so many minority students, it is so important for them to see their ethnicity in history," James said. 

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