A Deer Park kindergarten class is combining art and history to honor Black History Month.

While students in art teacher Ashley Woolsey’s class continue to learn about colors and shapes, she is adding a new dimension to her lesson.

“As they learn about Black History Month in their regular classroom and throughout the school, I thought Alma Woodsey Thomas would be the perfect artist to represent exactly that and celebrate this month,” she says.

Thomas is known for her abstract paintings. In 1924, she became the first fine arts graduate of Howard University.

Thomas went on to hold a 35-year career as an art teacher. At the age of 81, she had her first solo art exhibit.

To honor the African-American artist, students in Woolsey’s class are recreating their own mosaics full of different colors.

 Woosley says as her students learn about history, they are also learning the message of never giving up on their dreams.