This week is AP week. Today I had the government exam. It went much better than I expected it to go! That's good news. Thursday I have English. My teacher is so frustrating that if I fail, I will accept it as a testimony to her poor teaching skills, and not to my ability. This may be an exaggeration, but a small one.
Here's the story about government - a much more interesting one than the english one. My dad has taught at school for thirty years now, and for the past fifteen or so, he has coached the We the People team. What this means is the AP Government class uses the We the People curriculum and studies intensely various parts of the system of government. There are six units:
Unit I - philosophies influencing the Framers.
Unit II - making and ratifying of the Constitution
Unit III - I can't even remember...
Unit IV - Congress :(
Unit V - I just know they know a lot of court cases
Unit VI - CITIZENSHIP! [and for Dan, a lot of denizenship as well]
I was in Unit VI. (Can you tell?) We learned so much about citizenship and civil rights and immigration and communitarianism and grassroots. Most of that was useless on the exam. The AP exam was more structural, so the majority of what we learned first semester was totally irrelevant to it. I don't regret it for a minute though!
There was a preliminary survey thing. One of the questions was "How much did this course of study influence your choice of major in college?" [more or less...]. I said strongly. I plan to major in photojournalism, which doesn't seem related to government, and I guess it's not, but since my unit also had little to do with the structure of it, I guess it makes sense! I learned a lot about people and awareness. Just this past Saturday, I was talking with a new-found friend from the band Leo, and he read this book called "5 Things White People Like." One of them was awareness. He was saying that people like to be aware, and then they think that justifies the lack of any following action. I said to him, "Does that mean we should become unaware?" I agree that people like to think they're doing something by knowing, but that shows a problem with their hearts, and perhaps there is not the right kind of awareness. Perhaps people know what is going on, but they don't know what they can do about it. News should explain problems and suggest some solutions without being too partisan. It's perfectly possible - it's called grassroots!!
But anyways. On to the point of why I'm writing. One year, my dad's We the People team made third in the country. One of the guys on the team - he was in Unit II - died four years later just before his college graduation from Taylor University. His name was Brad Larson. His parents found all his journals - personal and prayer - and compiled most of them into a book which they sent to my dad. I saw it yesterday and picked it up for a read. I saw the sections where he faithfully recounted their trips to Madison for the state competition and to Washington D.C., for nationals.
"1/18/10
"I headed down to Mr. Moore's room for our final dry run. But before we started, he praised us ridiculously. 'I am truly humbled by you guys in Unit II This is the reason teachers teach, for times like this when your students amaze you.' He told me specifically how good my writing is and how precise I am. I know from Jeff that the last day he would praise you to boost your confidence but I didn't expect that. Before all the other stuff, he says, 'I don't usually talk from my heart...' Dang."
At State:
"1/20/02
"...Unit II starts us off. Of course our worst question (about the Electoral College) was first. We we didn't let that stop us. We were money.... Time saw Mr. Moore bust a cigar when I was talking. After, Mr. Moore said it was a good thing that Unit II started because we set the bar high.... In his comments, Kaminski goes, 'Brad, I've been doing this 15 years and I am positive that no one has ever cited Caleb Strong.' .... After it was over, Kaminski gave us the E word [excellent]. On of the other judges compared Heritage's legacy to the New York Yankees in baseball. I think that is what moved Mr. Moore to tears."
When the team was announced in the top 10 at Nationals:
"Sunday 5/9/02
"....Everyone is screaming and hugging and no one hears the next 6 or 7 teams. 'You know how sweet this is that we did this for Mr. Moore,' says Kludt."
About the last competition:
"Monday 5/10/02
"We got up at 8:30 AM and leave for the Senator Dirksen Building. When it was our turn the other units did well, some better than others... and then 2 hours after our group started, Unit II is up at 11:30 AM. We all did great. #2 deliberation question. I got in my Patrick Henry quote, Liz her 'had every Athenian been a Socrates' and Tim's quote about 'is a saw a good tool?' comment. Mr. Moore gave us a nice speech: 'Take a look around...' He said that we had a really tough judge and a really bad lady disguised as a grandma, but we did a great job... after walking around that afternoon we went back to change for the formal awards dinner that night. After dinner there were some regional awards and the greatest 15-20 minutes of my life. First the announcement of seven 4th place teams. We all hold hands and liz tells me that if we get in the top 3, she's gonna kiss our cheeks. 'In no particular order, the first 4th place team is ... Virginia!' Then another state and another state with the excitement building each time. The fourth 4th place team is their first time in the top 10 ...oh, man ... well it had to come to an end some time... 'New Mexico!' We're still alive. Fifth - Colorado. Again a popular top 3 pick. 'And sixth, 4th place team is ..... California!' I stand up and inadvertently blurt out an expletive. 'Oh, shit!' but only loud enough for Liz to hear, thankfully. That was Liz's and my favorite moment, I think. 'You just swore in front of your mom,' she whispered. I was amazed. Mr. Moore predicted California to win it. 'And seventh 4th place team is ................Texas!' Oh, my goodness! We couldn't believe it. We did it. They announced 3rd next ... 'WISCONSIN!' Hugs all around. I looked and Liz and she almost cried. I looked back at Mom and went to hug her. We got a sweet plaque after a long walk thru the tables that sat 1500 people. They announced the top two winners and then Liz dragged me out on the dance floor and everyone got their groove on. We went back to the hotel and I called Jeff, he was so pumped for us! .. Mr. Moore told Liz that Unit II was 'the heart and soul of this team.'
"Tuesday 5/7/02
" ... we flew home and were pleasantly greeted by a lot of people. Parents, friends, teachers ... more pics ... more hugs ... then home. Mom said it 'was the coolest thing any of my kids has ever done.' But I knew you wouldn't know how cool it was unless you were there. Then bed. What a weekend.
"P.S. I love Liz and Tim.
"Wednesday 5/8/02
"Mr. Moore's speech last night stressed 2 things: "A mind, once stretched, never returns to its original shape. And, how he loves that we take risks."
