Second grade teacher Kayla Grier reads “Beautiful Blackbird” to her class Thursday at Sherwood Heights Elementary School in Auburn. Grier is one of eight teachers at the school who received a copy of Ashley Bryan’s book from the Bates College Museum of Art. Education curator Anthony Shostak said a copy of “Beautiful Blackbird” was donated to each kindergarten, first and second grade teacher in Lewiston and Auburn public schools. Grier’s students said the lesson they received from reading the book is that being different is what makes each person shine. “It does not matter what color you are,” Grier told her students. “We are all the same color on the inside.” Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

Anthony Shostak, education curator at the Bates College Museum of Art in Lewiston, hands Sherwood Heights Elementary School second grade teacher Kayla Grier a bag of education materials this week that includes Ashley Bryan’s book “Beautiful Blackbird.” Grier is one of eight teachers at the school who received a copy. Shostak said copies were donated to each kindergarten, first and second grade teacher in Lewiston and Auburn public schools. Paintings, prints, illustrations and books by the African American artist are displayed at the museum through March 20. The museum is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a virtual tour is provided at bates.edu/museum. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal