The profound and lasting legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was celebrated throughout the Islip School District in January.

Kristine O’Malley’s kindergarten and first -grade classes at Wing read stories about Dr. King, learning about fairness and respecting differences, and learned a short song about the civil rights leader.

Before reading a biography written by Dr. King’s niece, Marc Segal’s fifth-grade class at Sherwood passed around a cup of M&Ms, posing the question, “What is the tastiest color M&M?”

“After the read-aloud and class discussion, we arrived at the conclusion that regardless of their color, all M&Ms taste the same,” Segal said. “This was a metaphor for the ideas of equality that Dr. King stood for.”

Ted Dieumegard and Jenna Laura’s fourth-grade class at Commack Road participated in an activity based on four of Dr. King’s quotes. The teachers read the quotes to the students, asked them what they thought they meant, and then clarified their meanings, if necessary. The students then chose the single quote that meant the most to them and explained why.

Fourth graders in Meghan Flynn and Christine LeMaire’s Commack Road class read Doreen Rappaport’s book “Martin’s Big Words,” a “Scholastic News” magazine article about Dr. King and the March on Washington, and a short biography on Dr. King, then worked on posters illustrating important events in his life and his dream.

“Since January is Kindness Month at Commack Road, we used that a buildingwide springboard for students to learn about Dr. King,” said LeMaire. “It helped to draw correlations about how he inspired others to rethink their thoughts, behaviors and way they live. To bring us back to the idea of kindness, compassion and empathy for others school counselor Sara Comiskey presented scenarios to our class to act out and discuss. We had a great day learning about such an important figure who changed history.”