For CHS students, March 6 was not an average day. Instead of classes and lectures, students walked to the Michigan Theatre for a special showing of the documentary “There Went the Neighborhood.” Just recently premiered, the documentary details the history of Jones Elementary School and Ann Arbor’s historically Black neighborhood. As students found their seats and turned to the screen, they saw a story of nostalgia, pain and a neighborhood that disappeared.

Joslyn Hunscher-Young, one of the organizers of the event, felt that it was necessary for students to see the film. On a daily basis, CHS students are surrounded by landmarks that were once the backbone of the Black community. Hunscher-Young believes that it is important for students to learn about these landmarks and to have an understanding of the desegregation, gentrification and rising housing prices that have led Ann Arbor to look the way it does now.

“As the high school with the highest percentage of white students I think it is important for us to recognize the history of the space that we’re in,” Hunscher-Young said.

“And to think about what it means for us to inhabit said space.”

After the film, students were also given the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session. With both the director and some of the featured individuals present, students could ask any lingering questions. The panelists provided personal stories and elaborated on different parts of the film, encouraging conversations long after students had left the theater.

“It was really great to see students participating,” Hunscher-Young said. “It gave students a chance to continue learning from last year and to hear more voices of people who have been in this neighborhood and in this building before us

Now, “There Went The Neighborhood” is free online for anyone to watch. Students are encouraged to share the film with their family and friends and to continue learning more about this part of Ann Arbor’s history that has been ignored for far too long.