I am fortunate because I get to teach so many different groups of students in a day. I teach at a large suburban high school in south Alabama. The demographics of our school are unique and in return, we are able to offer a wide variety of course options to meet all of their needs. I currently teach AP Psychology, Honors US History 10 and Study of Popular Music in America. My SOP class is amazing because I get to come together with this diverse group of students and share something we all love...music. Music is a bonding agent and you see kids who maybe never would have spoken if it wasn’t this common thread they share in music. It’s a beautiful thing to behind.
My Project
My students have been granted a unique opportunity to see the critically acclaimed show ”Hamilton: An American Musical” in Atlanta. This year my US History courses piloted a fantastic project through the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History called the Hamilton Ed Program. As part of the program, my students learned about significant people, events, and documents of the Founding Era of American history. Next, students chose a person, event, or document from this period that interested them. Using resources from Hamilton Ed website and information from their research of primary documents on their chosen topic, students created a performance piece such as a song, poem, rap, or monologue that demonstrated their understanding of new knowledge of their topic and the Founding Era. As a reward to thank my students for participating in the pilot run of the Hamilton Program, my students have been selected to see a special student matinee of the musical, ”Hamilton” at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, GA. This is a unique opportunity because only a few schools who are piloting the program have been chosen to see the show. A generous donation by the Rockefeller Foundation helped keep the price of tickets for my students to only ten dollars per student. Unfortunately, the cost of transportation might hinder our ability to travel to Atlanta. Because Atlanta is five hours from our town, we must take charter buses as transportation, which is not cheap. It would cost my students around $78 per student to cover their cost of transportation, which is a large sum for many of my students. If our project were funding, it would allow all my students to see one of the best shows to ever grace Broadway and enhance their learning of the era by seeing it come alive on stage.
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