Gordon Nore
Senior Master
Something happened today.
A colleague of mine, with whom I share many beliefs, asked to bring her grade eight classes into the library to watch President-Elect Obama's acceptance speech on YouTube. (I've recently hooked up SmartBoard and data projector, along with a decent sound system, so my library is preferable for viewing media in large groups.)
There was a palpable excitement among my children in our inner-city school. Half of my kids at least come from families that have immigrated to Canada within the last five years. Besides English, my children speak something like two-dozen languages at home. Incomes are mixed. Some live in delapidated high-rises; some in modest houses. Some of my kids may one day realise economic independence and prosperity; some will remain locked in relative poverty.
Ordinarily, large-scale, serious news events -- unless they are tragic, like Virginia Tech -- do not hold the interest of many of my adolescent students. A major story emminating from Canada, such as a our own recent federal election, does not ignite their imaginations.
Today was very different.
I watched dozens of grade eight students file in, sit down, and listen to a televised speech with a sense of urgency and purpose. Children of all races and economic backgrounds knew that something historic had happened. The closest thing I can compare it to, as a man two years older than your President-Elect, is sitting in a school library with my classmates watching Apollo missions in the 1960s.
Special interests, Congressional antics, fear mongering, half-a$$ed pundrity, and cinicism will creep in soon enough. For now I think this is a wonderful moment for a country that has seen many, many difficult years. I salute you, America. Regardless of whom you voted for as individuals, you have taken the world's breath away.
A colleague of mine, with whom I share many beliefs, asked to bring her grade eight classes into the library to watch President-Elect Obama's acceptance speech on YouTube. (I've recently hooked up SmartBoard and data projector, along with a decent sound system, so my library is preferable for viewing media in large groups.)
There was a palpable excitement among my children in our inner-city school. Half of my kids at least come from families that have immigrated to Canada within the last five years. Besides English, my children speak something like two-dozen languages at home. Incomes are mixed. Some live in delapidated high-rises; some in modest houses. Some of my kids may one day realise economic independence and prosperity; some will remain locked in relative poverty.
Ordinarily, large-scale, serious news events -- unless they are tragic, like Virginia Tech -- do not hold the interest of many of my adolescent students. A major story emminating from Canada, such as a our own recent federal election, does not ignite their imaginations.
Today was very different.
I watched dozens of grade eight students file in, sit down, and listen to a televised speech with a sense of urgency and purpose. Children of all races and economic backgrounds knew that something historic had happened. The closest thing I can compare it to, as a man two years older than your President-Elect, is sitting in a school library with my classmates watching Apollo missions in the 1960s.
Special interests, Congressional antics, fear mongering, half-a$$ed pundrity, and cinicism will creep in soon enough. For now I think this is a wonderful moment for a country that has seen many, many difficult years. I salute you, America. Regardless of whom you voted for as individuals, you have taken the world's breath away.
