There
were two specific historical events that I experienced firsthand when I was
just a boy. The first was in 1986 when I was in fourth grade social science. We
had been getting ready for weeks for the Challenge shuttle to launch. The hype
the surrounded this particular launch was that for the first time a junior high
school teacher was had been trained and was preparing to go out into space. She
brought with her a number of experiments with her that she could try as soon as
she was weightless. We were all excited
to see this event unfold. We had all a kid could want to have a great party! On
our blankets we ate our popcorn, drank our drinks and waited for the fun to
start. The fact that the shuttle blew up and came raining back down to earth
was devastating and left us all in shock. The second historical event I
experienced was Desert Storm. It was the first war I remember seeing and
hearing about on the news. I remember the news showing video of night time
skirmishes between the United States and the Iraqi forces. Experiencing these
two events contributed to my love of history and my belief that we should be
aware of the history that is being made around us. Children need a firm grasp
on the history of their past as well as the history being made during their
lifetime.
I remember in 1987 when we went out and rang bells to celebrate the 1787 signing of the Constitution. I think it's great when schools can provide students with first-hand experiences of history. The challenge, for you, will be to also build students' interest in those events that they haven't been alive for.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Meant to add--thanks for your posting. For some reason, my school didn't celebrate the Challenger launch but I'm sure for the schools that did, the experience was very shocking.
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