YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Cardinal Mooney High School will no longer have students pick seeds out of cotton as part of an African-American History lesson, according to Principal Mark Vollmer.

Late Saturday, the school sent an email to 21 News with an attached letter from Vollmer addressed to members of the “Mooney Family.”

Read the entire letter from Principal Vollmer below this story

The letter is in response to reports circulated on social media that students in an African-American History class were given raw cotton to pick out the seeds while music contemporary to America's slave era was being played in the classroom.

When some students came home with plastic baggies containing the picked cotton, some parents posted messages on Facebook expressing their displeasure with the lesson.

The Cardinal Mooney High School Minority Alumni Council, which represents minority graduates, issued a statement saying that any lesson subjecting any child of any race to the simulation, or actual practice of picking cotton is inappropriate, unacceptable, and has no place in the school.

In his letter, Vollmer acknowledged school officials have been investigating questions pertaining to the lesson, saying they take seriously concerns brought by members of the Mooney Family.

Vollmer explains that a Mooney faculty teacher, a YSU student teacher and an observing supervisor/teacher from YSU were in the classroom at the time of the lesson.

According to Vollmer, the class has been presented in past years at Mooney and is used in schools across the country as what he characterized as a “significant part of the state-approved United States History curriculum.”

“In an immersive experience, students enhance their understanding, albeit only a slight glimpse, of the plight slaves had to endure during this dark time in America's history,” writes Vollmer.

Responding to some posts on social media that white students did not take part in the cotton seed picking portion of the class, Vollmer said all students present in the class participated in the lesson.

However, in reference to the cotton seed picking portion of the lesson, Vollmer said it will no longer be part of any curriculum at Mooney.

He also said that the school is taking steps to vet current and future lesson plans with what he called, “an eye toward cultural sensitivity and inclusiveness.”

Vollmer said he will be working with the NAACP and the Minority Alumni Council.

Read the entire letter from Principal Vollmer here