Wednesday, November 1, 2000
|
Wednesday, November 1, 2000 |
|
Students
discover human side of history By PAT NEWMAN
Students at Brooks Elementary School don't just study history, they live it. Dressed in presidential garb, students in Dana Sams STAGED class (Students and Teachers and Achieving Goals Every Day) lined the halls recently, transforming their school into a human wax museum. With display boards covered in facts, and a report at their feet, the presidents stood motionless, allowing their stories to be told via taped cassettes. "The children helped me devise the activities for this project," Sams said, "and there is far more than you saw on display in the classroom." Sams explained that her students tackled the project in every way possible, incorporating art, history, science, social studies, songs, poetry, and internet-gleaned information into their presentations. They learned about the Constitution, the Electoral College and the Bill of Rights, according to their teacher. "It was just good old fashioned get-down-on-the-floor learning," Sams said. Special guest speaker at the evening assembly was former U.S. Sen. Mack Mattingly and his wife, Leslie. Mattingly, who is running for the late Sen. Paul Coverdell's seat in the Senate, told the standing-room-only audience, "This is probably one of the most moving times in the mission we have been on... campaigning for our Constitution." He spoke about the privilege Americans have in the right to vote, and the need for adults to cast their votes in the upcoming election. "The greatest thing you have here in Brooks and in Georgia is the right to vote... it's your number one job as a U.S. citizen," he said. Sams noted that a lot of the children's grandparents turned out for the event. "I overheard one of them saying, 'This is the way school programs used to be, with the whole town turning out.'" About 300 people attended, and approximately 60 students took part in the presidential presentation, including the chorus, which led the assembly in "The Star Spangled Banner." Sams' STAGED class is the equivalent of an enrichment class. "The students came up with the name," Sams said. The class also was responsible for the refreshments, which featured dozens of cookies, cakes and goodies.
|
||