Happy 4th of July to everyone!
Today students celebrated our nation’s birthday in Presidential Politics by watching part of the John Adams movie where the Continental Congress votes to break away from Great Britain in declaring our independence. Students also reflected & shared what it means to be free & what traditions they consider to be American.
We also had a very entertaining debate between two students role-playing George H.W. Bush & Michael Dukakis during the 1988 presidential election.
After lunch students participated in the first round of our Presidential Face-Off Tournament. Each of the games involved one student going up against another student to defend their person’s president as to why their president was more effective. Each person had two minutes to defend their legacy before they had two minutes to point out flaws in their opponent’s presidency. During the last 5 to 10 minutes each student was allowed to ask their opponent questions in which they had an interactive debate. After their debate was over, the rest of the class then voted on which person’s presentation was the best.
Our winners from today’s first round were as follows: President Wilson defeated President Reagan, President Lyndon Johnson defeated President Teddy Roosevelt, President Truman defeated President Kennedy, President Polk defeated President Eisenhower, President Franklin Roosevelt defeated President Monroe, & President Jackson defeated President Jefferson. Congratulations to Ben G., Eric, Reed, Lance, Ben K., & Peter for their 1st round victories. Two students had a first-round bye and will be part of the quarterfinal matchups next week. The students did a great job in their debates!
After the 1st round of Presidential Face-Off was finished, the students watched a part of the John Adams movie over the Presidency of George Washington.
Tonight in study hall, students will begin working on their individual project that involves which four additional presidents they think should be on Mount Rushmore!