As an educator I am interested in anything that can perpetuate learning among young people. A mother concerned about her children’s education has developed a system to teach African American children science and history. Jackie Johnson, an educator at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina says that she came up with the idea when she found virtually no websites that featured black characters excited about learning so she decided to create her own.
Her creation is a character called Mop Top, a black hip hop scientist patterned after Bill Nye, The Science Guy. The Mop Top Shop is home to Mop Top and his sidekick, Lollipop. Mop Top and Lollipop navigate a list of important blacks like George Washington Carver, Charles Drew and more. There is an online lab with puzzles and games that are educational and fun. I went to the website and found it to be very user friendly and it actually encourages children to celebrate the achievements of African Americans in the area of science.
