Where did you first learn about David Crockett or Goliad or the Alamo?
Who told you who Santa Anna and Sam Houston were?
If you're lucky, it was your mom or dad…or maybe an uncle or aunt. If you're like me (raised by a Yankee mama and historically indifferent daddy), you learned about our heritage in the 7th grade.
In my class's reenactment of the Black Bean Incident, I drew a black one. I was terrified.
The history of our state is set apart in school for good reason and teaching our kids the fundamentals of it is vital to raising Texans.
To impart the knowledge of our rich past is to impart what has set us out from the rest of the world for 176 years. I know you talk to your kids (or grandkids) about it, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this. But what about "other people's kids"?
Pasadena, Texas, is currently proposing to cut Texas history time for 7th graders by nearly 50%.
More time could then be given over to what's on the standardized tests. Cutting social studies (history) in the name of math, science and reading is a nationwide trend that Texas has managed to buck so far.
But if Pasadena ISD pulls this off, the precedent set will put erosion in motion. Your district may well follow suit and so on until, statewide, HALF is good enough.
Well, it's not.
Ask yourself this question…if you could teach someone only HALF of our history, what portion would you leave out? Who would you leave out? What part matters so little that it's not worth teaching? Which part didn't help make us who we are as a people?
Pasadena's curriculum folks met on Wednesday to discuss what THEY are leaving out. A bunch of people in a conference room have decided whether or not the next generation of Texans will know who Bigfoot Wallace is or what Spindletop was.
We Texans don't half-ass our history and the folks at PISD ought to be reminded of that.
Sure, they have a job to do, but they're not going to do it at the expense of our history.
Some very brave, determined people fought to carve that history out of this land and wiping half of it away in the name of a STAAR test is a disgrace. Those steel-willed pioneers aren't here to fight for Texas anymore, but we are. And we're made of the same stuff.
We can all chime in, but if we're not local (read: voting in School Board elections), our voices won't hold the same clout as the people who cast the ballots.
So, if you know any real Texans in the Pasadena area, PLEASE pass this on. We can all contact the Superintendent, but this is a local issue and folks within the district will be heard most loudly, particularly if they attend the May 3 meeting.
The Board is meeting on May 3rd at 7 p.m. and setting aside time for comments, even though this issue isn't an agenda item.
If you know anyone in Pasadena who gives a damn about Texas history, please forward this to them. If it gets your gussy up…and it should…let the Powers That Be know.
And let me know what they say.
Here you go:
Superintendent, Kirk Lewis
klewis@pasadenaisd.org
(713) 740-0243
Assoc. Superintendent, Ms. Billye J. Smith
bsmith@pasadenaisd.org
(713) 740-0969
Together we can stomp loud enough keep our history in our schools.
If we don't pass it on, it dies with us.
God & Texas,
Michelle
Michelle M. Haas, Managing Editor
Copano Bay Press
CopanoBayPress.com
Who told you who Santa Anna and Sam Houston were?
If you're lucky, it was your mom or dad…or maybe an uncle or aunt. If you're like me (raised by a Yankee mama and historically indifferent daddy), you learned about our heritage in the 7th grade.
In my class's reenactment of the Black Bean Incident, I drew a black one. I was terrified.
The history of our state is set apart in school for good reason and teaching our kids the fundamentals of it is vital to raising Texans.
To impart the knowledge of our rich past is to impart what has set us out from the rest of the world for 176 years. I know you talk to your kids (or grandkids) about it, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this. But what about "other people's kids"?
Pasadena, Texas, is currently proposing to cut Texas history time for 7th graders by nearly 50%.
More time could then be given over to what's on the standardized tests. Cutting social studies (history) in the name of math, science and reading is a nationwide trend that Texas has managed to buck so far.
But if Pasadena ISD pulls this off, the precedent set will put erosion in motion. Your district may well follow suit and so on until, statewide, HALF is good enough.
Well, it's not.
Ask yourself this question…if you could teach someone only HALF of our history, what portion would you leave out? Who would you leave out? What part matters so little that it's not worth teaching? Which part didn't help make us who we are as a people?
Pasadena's curriculum folks met on Wednesday to discuss what THEY are leaving out. A bunch of people in a conference room have decided whether or not the next generation of Texans will know who Bigfoot Wallace is or what Spindletop was.
We Texans don't half-ass our history and the folks at PISD ought to be reminded of that.
Sure, they have a job to do, but they're not going to do it at the expense of our history.
Some very brave, determined people fought to carve that history out of this land and wiping half of it away in the name of a STAAR test is a disgrace. Those steel-willed pioneers aren't here to fight for Texas anymore, but we are. And we're made of the same stuff.
We can all chime in, but if we're not local (read: voting in School Board elections), our voices won't hold the same clout as the people who cast the ballots.
So, if you know any real Texans in the Pasadena area, PLEASE pass this on. We can all contact the Superintendent, but this is a local issue and folks within the district will be heard most loudly, particularly if they attend the May 3 meeting.
The Board is meeting on May 3rd at 7 p.m. and setting aside time for comments, even though this issue isn't an agenda item.
If you know anyone in Pasadena who gives a damn about Texas history, please forward this to them. If it gets your gussy up…and it should…let the Powers That Be know.
And let me know what they say.
Here you go:
Superintendent, Kirk Lewis
klewis@pasadenaisd.org
(713) 740-0243
Assoc. Superintendent, Ms. Billye J. Smith
bsmith@pasadenaisd.org
(713) 740-0969
Together we can stomp loud enough keep our history in our schools.
If we don't pass it on, it dies with us.
God & Texas,
Michelle
Michelle M. Haas, Managing Editor
Copano Bay Press
CopanoBayPress.com