People

Civil Rights Up Close

In 1998, after teaching social studies at California's Capuchino High School for 14 years, Jeff Steinberg spent his summer on a 4,000-mile trek through Washington, D.C. and the South to associate himself firsthand with what he'd been teaching about the civil rights movement all those years. After visits to the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and other memorials, his life changed.

He drew up an itinerary for a student trip and started "Sojourn to the Past"—a program that, by the end of this year, will have exposed nearly 1,300 high school students from California and New York to a "living history" curriculum through on-site experiences and the reflections of civil rights leaders, as well as books, documentaries, and audio recordings.

During the trip, students meet movement veterans who impart lessons in tolerance, compassion, nonviolence, and more. "It's like a portable civil rights program that is having incredible long-term impact on the students involved," explains Steinberg.

Civil rights veterans John Lewis and Martin Luther King III sit on his board of directors and speak with the students.

Other speakers include Myrlie Evers Williams (Medgar Evers's widow), members of the Little Rock Nine, Robert Moses, the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth (a leader of the 1963 Birmingham movement), and Chris McNair, father of one of four little girls killed in the Birmingham church bombing.

Enhancing Learning on the Farm

Lisa Whitfield may be an arts teacher in North Carolina, but her classroom is a far cry from a typical school. Whitfield is director of the Historic Johnson Farm in Henderson County, one of only three farms in the nation known to be owned by a school district.

Through the help of volunteers, Whitfield has managed to make the 131-year-old farm a place where children can visit to learn more about local history and participate in activities such as storytelling and candle-making.

Whitfield, who's been an NEA member for 30 years, spends half of her week at Hillandale Elementary School teaching arts and the other half at the farm managing bills, paperwork, advertising, and planning activities. The most important part of her job as director, she feels, is being able to coordinate field trips for children to the farm.

"The field trips give the children a chance to experience life on the farm through different activities. The favorite of most of the kids seems to be making homemade ice cream," Whitfield says.

Students can return each school term without having to repeat the activities they did the year before--first graders can make ice cream, while third graders make either soap or corn-husk dolls.

Whitefield believes that by giving students a little insight into the history of Henderson County, she provides a unique resource.

Students are fascinated by tidbits of information they glean when visiting the farm. Whitfield adds that by teaching local history, students gain an appreciation for their community.

Vernon and Leander Johnson donated the Johnson Farm to the Henderson County School System 12 years ago. In 1990, through the help of volunteers like Whitfield, the property was converted into a place where students could visit for field trips. Whitfield encourages teachers to bring their students to the farm to have fun and learn.

"To be able to hear a student say they enjoyed their experience and learned something definitely makes my job worth it," she says.

A Degree of Do-si-do and Promenade

Marcia Boone is a recent graduate. Her graduating class was made up of 17 people, and they accepted their diplomas to the strains of "Pomp and Circumstance." Their hats were made out of cardboard, and they even flipped their tassels at the end of the ceremony. Boone was not graduating from college or even from graduate school.

On a spring day in March, she received a degree in square dancing.

This was no easy task for the high school vocational specialist from Clayton County, Georgia. In August 2000, she started taking classes every Sunday. Boone eventually had to square dance blindfolded with balloons around her ankles--making sure they didn't pop, of course—for initiation into her local square dancing club.

For Boone, it was all worth it. She loves square dancing and makes her own dresses for square dancing events. Boone made a dress for a luau square dancing program in July and made one covered in shamrocks for a multicultural program at her high school in March.

"It's a great way for me to get out and meet people," says Boone. "It's also family-orientated, so parents can even bring their kids and have fun."

Although Boone has not started a square dancing club at her high school, she's participated in programs at the school where she shows off her square dancing skill--which got her students "whoopin' and hollerin'," says the light-footed teaching veteran.

As proud of her square dancing as she may be, Boone says her greatest satisfaction came when she was able to help a mentally disabled ninth grader make a square dancing skirt. The girl ended up winning fourth place in the state for her creation. Boone helped send her to the camp where she won the contest.

"Everyone was so amazed, because this girl is so shy and we were wondering how she would be able to talk to the judges," Boone recalls. "But she did it, and we are going to start making something else this school year."

Boone dances twice a week now through her club and other organizations in the Atlanta area, glad to have found a hobby that is fun and keeps her active. Now, with square dancing diploma in hand, Boone will continue do-si-doing.

"When I called my daughter and told her I had graduated, she told me she always knew I was square. I thought that was funny," Boone says with a chuckle.

Who Wood Have Thought

George Trout, Jr. may be one of the few teachers around who can say: "At school, kids get mad when I don't come in at night. I get 45 or 50 kids for open labs right after school. They work until 5 or 6 p.m. and then come back from 7 to 11 p.m."

Every year, Trout finds with some of his high school industrial arts students just can't get enough sawdust. He holds additional evening classes--and attendance is so high he still has to limit participation.

After teaching 15 years, this man knows how to work with kids as well as with wood in Springfield, Pennsylvania, 10 miles south of Philadelphia.

Why do kids yearn to learn what he has to teach?

Trout (pictured at right) believes students crave this hands-on work because it's so rewarding. He says kids have computers in every aspect of their lives, and they grow to expect instant gratification. It's different and exciting to work on a huge six-month project and then look back on your work.

For the last six years Trout has had another project, restoring an 1883 Victorian house. "Everything's original. There's one coat of paint on the walls and no paint on the interior woodwork," he enthuses. Being a teacher with extremely eager charges, he's hired many of his students to help on the house. Currently pitching in are former students Jim Staeger and Matt Owens.

"I just love working with them," Trout says of the students who play front and center in his career and his hobby. "We've been working on the house for six years, and it's not nearly finished."

The kids learn everything from basic safety tips to how to make a ball and claw foot. "These kids have far surpassed what I've done in my life," Trout says. "They show me new ideas and sometimes I have to say, 'Well, I've never done that, but we'll try it. This is really all about problem solving and creative thinking. The tools are just a vehicle."

Storytelling For a Grade

Oregonian Robert Rubinstein loves to tell stories, but he loves teaching students the art of storytelling even more. Rubinstein, who retired last spring, spent his entire teaching career at Roosevelt Middle School in Eugene.

"I've taught all kinds of kids to tell stories," says Rubinstein.

Everybody can tell stories, notes Rubinstein, but his storytelling classes, each 12 weeks long, were geared to enhance students' self-esteem and academic achievement.

During the first six weeks, the class plays theater games to get even the shy ones interacting with classmates and building confidence. "All I want them to do is to participate,"says Rubinstein.

The students then move on to telling stories. They tell them aloud, and Rubinstein grades them on projection, posture, variety of gestures, how well they know the story, and their progress and skill development.

Rubinstein founded and directed Roosevelt's nationally known Troupe of Tellers. During its 24 years, Roosevelt troupes have performed for more than 70,000 students. In 1993, these young tellers performed at the annual National Storytelling Conference.

Rubinstein also originated and still directs the annual Eugene Multi-Cultural Storytelling Festival, which he founded in 1990. The festival has brought well-known tellers from different ethnic backgrounds to 8,000 Eugene schoolkids --"a positive way to further cultural appreciation and understanding through story," says Rubinstein.

Rubinstein has authored several books. His first, Who Wants To be A Hero, was made into a movie that aired on Showtime. Rubinstein's most recent book has been internationally reviewed.

But that exposure hasn't changed Rubinstein's perspective on his work in Eugene. He plans "to stay active hosting the Multi-Cultural Storytelling Festival and writing books."