January 28, 2023

By Fred Liggett
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Excitement grew this week within the walls of Lee’s Summit North High School for a new addition that will attract students, staff and community members to visit the school over the next month. The addition is a Negro Leagues Beisbol traveling exhibit.

A 90-minute open house was held on Tuesday evening, Jan. 24 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The LS North jazz band helped kick off the event with a brief performance. The exhibit is located in the events lobby just outside the LSN Fieldhouse.

This project took some planning to prepare for it and bring it to existence. One person heavily involved was Shelly Sanders who serves LSR7 schools as Assistant Superintendent for Equity and Student Services. LS North Principal Tim Collins was on site throughout the open house answering any questions coming from event attendees. Collins is excited about the history display “an amazing opportunity to interact with a Kansas City based organization and provide educational value.”

A few staff members from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum brought out all the items to be on display and set it up. When the time comes the staff will return to pick it up from LSN. Collins says this all came about thanks to the LS North staff and Dignity team. They were meeting about community engagement and wondered what about the NLBM. The expense of the exhibit is taken care of by a Dignity grant that allowed for a discounted rate. The display is expected to last from four to six weeks. The display can be found just outside the entry doors to the LSN Fieldhouse and will be open during all games and meets over the next month.