Newburgh Free Academy students are wrapping up a Black History Month that included several lessons geared toward local Black history: local historical figures, but also controversial local issues that still challenge the city today.

A handful of Newburgh Free Academy sophomores dug deep into issues like urban renewal and gentrification, and legends like George Alsforf.

In her speech to conclude Black History Month in the NFA North auditorium Friday, sophomore Zoe McLymore paid tribute to Alsdorf, a freed slave who fought for the desegregation of NFA.

"George's real passion was the music and dancing he learned while enslaved in Ulster County," she told her classmates.

The vibe was less comfortable during some discussions about issues that have disproportionately affected Black Newburgh residents.

Urban renewal policies of the 1950s and 1960s led to the demolition of several hundred homes and businesses near the city's waterfront, significantly setting back several families, mostly Black.

The presenting students shared research with their peers, parents and mentors about historical figures mean to inspire, but also past bigoted community figures meant.

One student shared a scathing presentation on Joseph Mitchell, Newburgh's city manager who fought the tides of desegregation in the early 1960s, resigned following corruption allegations, and later campaigned for segregationist presidential candidate George Wallace.

"It's healthy to have those kinds of conversations," McLymore said, "because it's learning. You have to know what's going on in your community."

Presenter Erik Palmas said he will not limit this education and activism to just February.

"Making people informed and aware of how much this truly affects us, lets us search for more solutions," he said, "and especially with a bigger audience, the solutions can have a bigger impact on the idea of gentrification."

NFA English teacher Jackie Hesse helped the students with their research.

She said the depth of their presentations is proof they have a stake in the future of the Newburgh area.

"Sometimes people think that young people aren't paying attention to what's going on around them, but they definitely are," Hesse said. "They're seeing it. They're thinking about how it's going to impact their futures."