Wearing brightly colored African garb and playing an array of drums in different shapes and sizes, the Sunset Drummers celebrated Black History Month with a group of Oakland Elementary School students on Friday.

The group performs for churches, schools and more for free. “We never charge,” said Vivian Jack, who began the group with his wife Eleanor. “We just spread the music around.”

This is the Sunset Drummers’ second year visiting the school. Last year, the group played for third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students. This year, the rest of the school got to hear the performance.

“The kids loved it so much, we invited them back,” said Rena Long, Oakland’s music teacher.

Jack, who is originally from Trinidad, enjoys teaching others about the drums and the heritage of the African music he plays. Jack identified the instruments including several djembes of different sizes, conga drums, jun jun drums, and a cow bell and explained to the Oakland students that these drums have been used for more than 500 years.

Most of the music the group plays is calypso, which is strongly influenced by the people of West Africa, Jack said. The West African people brought their music to the Caribbean during the slave trade, and it was infused with the music native to that region.

While the younger students listened to the musical program, students in grades three through five enjoyed an activity designed to help them better understand the Underground Railroad.

The activity began in the gymnasium, where students received their first clues telling them where to go next. Resource teachers acted as conductors, leading students to their next destinations on their journey toward freedom.

An abolitionist met them along the way to give them advice. They also had to be careful not to be caught by the slave catcher. They navigated through a dimly lit music room with obstacles representing the many challenges slaves would have faced on the road to freedom. A balance beam represented a fallen tree, wavy material represented a swim through a river and crawling under a table represented a cave.

In the art room, they learned about Quakers who were against slavery and war. The Quakers offered the slaves on the Underground Railroad food, provisions, shelter and a place to hide.

“They learned a lot from it. They were answering a lot of questions,” Jodie Linkows said.

“The kids really enjoyed it,” Long said. “We were trying to make it a little more real for them — so it is a tangible concept.”