Get Schooled: Here Comes September

By Amber Lester Friday, August 27, 2010

I recently looked at my calendar and gasped. Already almost September! It feels like summer passes faster every year and this year was no exception.

I have the same feeling about Sept. 11. This year marks the ninth anniversary, and it’s shocking to think almost a decade has passed. Sometimes it feels like yesterday and other days it feels like it happened in a different life.

I was a senior in high school, waiting to enter my AP Government class, when the first plane struck the North Tower. We happened to have a television on in class that morning, and were watching The Today Show when the second plane hit. From that moment on, I remember feeling like nothing was certain anymore. I also remember wondering with my friends what would be written in the history books. We talked about what we’d tell our children someday.

It’s been nine years since then, which means most schoolchildren either weren’t born or would barely remember that day. I’m curious what they’re taught about Sept. 11 (I might have to look into that when school starts!), but I’m certain they’ve been taught to treat the day with reverence.

Children in York County have an excellent opportunity to remember the day by joining York County firefighters and Sheriff’s Office deputies for “Read With a Hero” at the Tabb Public Library. The county’s emergency responders will honor their fallen brethren by reading stories from books and sharing personal experiences at the event, which will be from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Sept. 11.

It’s a great chance for children to learn about the sacrifices made by men and women who live in their own neighborhood, have children that go to their schools or sit near them in church. It will help them understand that the first responders on 9/11 were not mythic superheroes, but regular people with mortgages, car payments, grocery lists and family dinners.

While families are there, the library staff will also give tours of the library, pointing out tools and resources that can help students with their school projects and homework. The county’s school textbooks are kept on hand for reference.

For more information, click here or contact the Tabb Library at 890-5120 or the Yorktown Library at 890-5207.

Adult Education in York County
The York County School Division will offer adult General Education Development (GED) and English as a Second Language (ESOL) classes for adults over the age of 18 this year.

The GED class will be held at the Life Long Learning Center at York High School from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. Math refresher classes will be held on Tuesday nights at the same location from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Registration starts at class time on Sept. 13-16. GED testing will begin in October.

ESOL classes will take place from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Bethel Baptist Church at 1004 Yorktown Road and on Tuesday nights in room 202 at Tabb High School. Registration starts Sept. 14 and 16.

Both classes are offered for free. For additional information, contact Adult Education Coordinator Kathy Phillips at 833-2259.

Teachers Visit Colonial Era
Colonial Williamsburg’s teacher development program just finished up its annual summer season. The program educated 761 teachers, who participated in three-to-five-day customized workshops in the Historic Area.

The Teacher Institute prepares teachers to instruct American history through hands-on immersion experiences. The teachers started their weeks at Jamestown, learning from docents, park rangers and interpreters, before taking a look at the ongoing archaeology work at the site. The teachers also visited CW’s Great Hopes Plantation, where they learned how the rural middle class and slaves lived. During the week, they also visited the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and the battlefield at Yorktown.

CW began offering Teacher Professional Development programs in 1990. Since then, 13,355 teachers have attended the summer Teacher Institute, participated in an on-site workshop or attended off-site Teaching American History conferences held in their school districts. For more information about the Teacher Institute, click here.