Sydney to the Max

Now that we have wrapped up our units on the bill of rights,

we can get to something I know you've all been waiting for.

: Can I get a drumroll please?

-(drumming) -and now,

are you ready to find out who I assigned you all

for the iconic american heroes presentation?

yes!

Alright, let's turn over those cards!

I think you're gonna love the iconic figures I picked for you.

hey, syd. Who'd you get?

-I got john lewis. -That's so cool.

He's one of the great civil rights leaders of our time.

I know. He was incredible,

but I've been hinting to ms. A

how much I wanted supreme court justice sonia sotomayor

since my grandma maya is a judge.

Looks like I got sonia sotomayor.

Well, ms. A must've assigned us these people for a reason.

-Who'd you get, olive? -None other than susan b. Anthony.

Oh, she's great. I mean,

without susan b. Anthony, women wouldn't be able to vote.

I'm gonna do a deep dive on her.

My goal is to blow the lid off what the b stands for.

My guess is bertha. No! Barbie. No!

Boomerang!

Wait, that's not a name.

what's the matter?

Big problem at the bike shop. Big.

Oh no! What happened?

There's a pigeon in the bathroom.

Did you try knocking?

Come on, mom. You know my fear of birds.

Their claws, their beaks,

the weird way they nod their heads at everything you say.

Okay, hand me the keys. Mommy will take care of this.

No. That is exactly why I am not letting you take care of this.

You'd never let me live this down.

Do you really think I would mock you for something

you have a genuine fear of?

Yes!

Oh, you know me too well.

Did you guys know susan b. Anthony was arrested

and refused to pay the fine?

Looks like the "b" stood for boss!

How's your project going, syd?

-Huh? -You okay? You've been a little distracted.

Sorry.

I've just been feeling weird about

who we got assigned for these projects.

But, it's probably nothing.

If it's bothering you, I'm sure it's something.

Okay. It's just...

I've been thinking. John lewis is black,

and I'm half black.

Sonia sotomayor is latina,

and emmy's half latina.

And susan b. Anthony's white like you, olive.

It just seems odd.

But, maybe I'm overthinking it.

Yeah. I'm sure it's probably nothing.

-Right, emmy? -Oh no, it's definitely something.

I felt uncomfortable the second I got assigned sonia sotomayor.

-Wait, you felt it, too? -Yeah.

In fact, I told my older sister about it,

and she said that what ms. A did is called a microaggression.

What's that?

She said it's when someone says

or does something that's hurtful

because of your race or ethnicity,

but not in a way that's obvious.

Like what?

Well, sometimes people will ask my sister where she's from.

When she says portland, they'll say,

"but where are you really from?"

like someone who looks like us couldn't possibly be born here.

Emmy, that's terrible.

But ms. A is so cool.

You really think she would do something like that?

That's the thing about microaggressions.

My sister says sometimes people don't mean to do it.

It might seem like a joke or an innocent comment,

but something about it makes you feel sad

in a way other stuff doesn't.

Wow, I can't believe it.

I know. My sister never says smart stuff.

I still can't believe ms. A would give assignments

based on the color of our skin.

Maybe it's just a coincidence.

Yeah. We don't know who everyone else got assigned.

There's only one way to find out.

Hide in their lockers so we can overhear their conversations?

Or we could just talk to them.

You know what? That's just crazy enough to work.

hey, coz. I can't believe a reporter

is coming to do a story on the computer club.

Oh, is that today?

Oh, like you're not excited?

It wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for you,

our founder and president.

You're gonna be a star.

I wouldn't say star,

but if someone wants me to cut a ribbon at a new bowling alley,

who am I to turn it down?

Hello, computer club!

I'd like to introduce you to mr. Ames,

the reporter from the portland gazette.

He's a busy man,

so don't waste time showering me with praise.

A light drizzle will do.

Hey, kids. Excited to be here.

So, why don't you tell me about your club?

Leo webb.

Welcome to the first school computer club

in all of portland.

Maybe even the world.

Hey, you know how we can find out?

A computer.

Listen, we might have to move this along.

I just got a tip that a big news story could break any minute.

I can't say much, but here's a hint.

-Escaped cheetah. -(gasp)

please, you're scaring the children.

All good, mr. Ames.

I'm proud of this club and what we've done.

So, how'd this all get started?

Well, we took an old storage room

and turned it into this computer lab.

We also put together a car wash to buy these computers.

Wow. That is quite impressive.

This club has changed my life.

I'm an artist, and now I can do a new type

of digital art called graphic design.

And I use the internet to research my science projects.

And I didn't have anything else to do after school.

this is it! The big story!

Sorry, I gotta cut this short.

Apparently, the cheetah broke back into the zoo,

and now everybody's trying to figure out how.

But I wanna know why.

But don't you want a quote from our club president for the paper?

Oh, don't worry. I got everything I need.

You're gonna love this story.

Oh, and mr. Virmani, please send me pictures of the kids

for the article.

This is gonna be great.

-I'm so excited! -Can't wait.

I wanna know more about the cheetah.

Okay, there's still a chance that it's just a coincidence

that ms. A assigned us historical figures based on our race,

so let's just find other kids from class

and ask who they got assigned.

I'll start with the cute boys.

How about you just find people from class?

Find, I'll go talk to roxanne.

Oh hey, ned! Can I ask you a weird question?

Is it about my pants?

I knew they weren't working.

Do you think they're working?

Maybe I should've gone with shorts.

Do you think I could pull off shorts?

The pants are fine.

It's about the social studies project.

I was wondering who you were assigned.

Oh. I got barack obama.

Huh. And how do you feel about it?

Great. I mean, it'll be an easy project.

I've already been assigned him twice.

That's a weird coincidence.

Unless you think it has anything to do with...

The fact that barack obama and I are both black?

Yeah, that definitely has a lot to do with it.

Really? And you're sure?

You're not gonna, like, do the ned thing

and overthink what you just said?

No.

Wait, I overthink stuff?

no, I don't.

Or do I?

Ned, doesn't it bother you

that you keep being assigned barack obama?

I'd never really thought about it.

It's kinda just how things are.

Guess who roxanne and callie got assigned?

Amy tan, the asian american author

who wrote the joy luck club.

I got jim thorpe, the first native american olympian.

And it kinda feels like I only got him 'cause I'm native american.

-(bell ringing) -we gotta go.

Thanks, girls.

I'm so disappointed.

I can't believe ms. A did this.

-We've gotta do something. -Like what?

I have no idea.

I hope getting everyone from class together was a good idea.

It's a great idea.

Dumb bird. Today's the day.

-Pack your tiny bags. -Dad!