We continue to juggle schedule changes, field trips, Junior
breakfast, and testing this week. Your
latest and last individual project was your oral history interview. In order to give you flexibility, you had four
weeks to complete the assignment and you had the choice of using video,
recording or transcript for your final project.
I have already viewed some of the final projects and they are
impressive. You selected interesting
people, asked well thought out questions, and learned more about historical
events and time periods through the eyes of an everyday observer. Congratulations to all who met the deadlines
and completed the task at hand.
If you are one of those students who did not complete the
project, this is the time to reflect on what happened, why, and what you can do
next time you are asked to do this type of project. For those of you going on to college or the
world of work, you will find that teachers and employers will assign you a task
by a certain deadline but allow you to design your own schedule. This takes time, patience and focus but it
also gives you the opportunity to be a master of your own destiny.
You also had your announced quiz on the Women’s
Movement. If you read last week’s blog
you noticed that I had included things you should know for the quiz. As I have said all year, the blog is here to
help and guide you. If you missed the
quiz, you have five days to make it up and looking ahead I see that advisories
are going to be closed starting June 4. Don’t wait till the last minute.
You also presented your presidential power point projects this
week. This was a fun project as you got
to work with a group and in addition to policy issues we looked at the popular
culture of the time. It is always fun
looking back on fashions, movies and songs to help us better understand the
time period. Working in a group allows you to focus on using the strengths of
each individual member. You are masters
at communicating so sharing information and slides should come naturally to
you. After presenting to the class, you filled
out a reflection sheet that asked you to think about the group process, your
contribution and what you could do next time to improve the product. This is good practice for Capstone which requires
you to do many of the same activities but by yourself.
You will have a quiz on the presentations so let’s quickly
review some of the key points:
Nixon is our only president to resign, because of the
Watergate scandal. Ford is our only president to serve who was never elected,
and his popularity plummeted due to his pardon of Nixon and a poor economy. He
was followed by Carter, a former governor of Georgia, whose administration was
hampered by high gas prices, inflation and unemployment, and by the taking of
American hostages in Iran.
After serving one term, Carter was defeated by Reagan, who
served two. Reagan, our first divorced
president, made every day feel like the Fourth of July. Many supported his claim
that government had become too large and his efforts to reduce spending and
taxes, but he left a sizeable debt for the next president, George H. W. Bush. Bush Senior (yes, we all know that is not his
official name but it is easy to get the middle initials mixed up so let’s keep
this simple) ran on a platform of no new taxes, but after seeing the size of
the debt he felt raising taxes was the only responsible move to make. His popularity soared after the very short
and successful Desert Storm operation in Kuwait, but he only served one term as
many voters turned against him for breaking his tax pledge.
Bush Senior was followed by Clinton, a former governor of
Arkansas. Clinton was able to develop an
economic plan that produced a robust economy.
People’s wages went up, unemployment went down and he was able to leave
a sizeable surplus when he left office eight years later. But even though he received high marks for
the economy he was involved in a personal scandal that led to his
impeachment. Remember, the House
impeaches (indicts) and the Senate then holds the trial to weigh the evidence. The Senate heard the charges and decided Clinton’s
misdeeds did not meet the “high crimes and misdemeanors” standard the Constitution
requires to complete the removal process.
So Clinton goes down in history as the second president to be impeached
but he is not removed from office.
Clinton is followed by George W. Bush. This is a president you remember, as he
served during the tragedy of 9/11. That
terrorist attack eventually led us into wars with Iraq and Afghanistan. While our leaders at the time predicted Iraq
would be a brief conflict, it is only this past year that our troops have been
withdrawn. Bush Junior will also be remembered for controversial tax cuts for
the wealthiest Americans that many believe have contributed to our massive
deficit, while others argue they help promote growth. As future voters and taxpayers you will need
to decide what course of action you want your country to take. Even though most voters want a balanced
approach, mixing spending cuts with modest tax increases, members of Congress have
been pressured by lobbyists to take a no tax increase pledge. If a member votes for a tax increase,
enormous amounts of money are poured into their opponent’s campaign in the next
election. What would you do if you were
an elected official?
On Friday we started saying good bye to our seniors. Seniors…you have your study guide (turn it in
on the day of the exam and earn extra points), you have your file of work for
the past two quarters and of course you have the blog. Please come by any time
if you have any last minute questions.
Memorial Day
On Monday we celebrate MemorialDay. This holiday originally
commemorated those who lost their lives in the Civil War, but over time it has
become a day to remember all who have died in service to our country, and our
own loved ones. Many families take this
opportunity to visit cemeteries to honor those who have gone before. You can learn a great deal about history at
cemeteries as you read the markers and note the dates. One of my favorite cemeteries is the grave
yard next to Saint Columba’s Chapel on Indian Avenue. The markers tell of astounding
accomplishments, tragic losses, and simple lives filled with love and care for
all.
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