historical topics

Students from Indianapolis Schools to Compete in African American History Challenge

Students from three Indianapolis middle schools will compete in the African American History Challenge held June 7-11 in Atlanta, Ga. The team is composed of Kenneth Rush from Crispus Attucks Middle School, Gordon Jackson of Park Tudor and Adrian Wynn of Craig Middle School. The team has trained for the event with Co-Chairs Pat Payne, of the Indianapolis Schools, and Kevin Davenport, 100 Black Men of Indianapolis. The African American History Challenge is an educational, scholastic program designed to encourage the study of African and African American history. The students in the program have been working to recognize the importance of history in the world, to seek truth in the study of history and identify when textbooks do not accurately reflected the contributions of people of African descent. The main source of study used in preparation for the national competition was “Before the Mayflower,” authored by historian Lerone Bennett. The students have been preparing for the competition since early October, meeting every Saturday morning from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Indianapolis School’s Multicultural Center.

Northwest High School Will Offer International Baccalaureate Program

Indianapolis School students will have the opportunity to enroll in the International Baccalaureate curriculum. Starting this fall, the rigorous International Baccalaureate curriculum will be introduced at Northwest High School. The Indianapolis School District wide magnet International Baccalaureate program was formally approved on May 15, 2006. The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), a non-profit educational group based in Geneva, Switzerland approved the offering of the program at Northwest High School after the school completed a two year application procedure. The application process included training and professional development of all Northwest teachers and school staff, site visits to other schools with programs, before an official application was submitted in June 2005. An International Baccalaureate site team spent two days last fall visiting the school and interviewing staff, students and teachers. The International Baccalaureate is currently offered in only seven schools in the state of Indiana. The International Baccalaureate follows a very tough curriculum of study. It includes tough pre-college workloads in such traditional areas of study as math, foreign language, history, science and the arts. Students who are eligible for the program will be required to write an extended essay and be expected to participate in 150 hours of community service that has been initiated by the student. All of the International Baccalaureate programs in Indiana are at the high school level. Indianapolis School District’s Center for Inquiry is currently in the certification process to offer an elementary and middle grades International Baccalaureate academic program.

This will give the more urban students in Indianapolis Schools the chance to rise to the challenges of this world-renowned curriculum. The tougher curriculum will result in higher expectations for student achievement and a strong academic focus. The accelerated program is intended to help foster the small schools curriculum design being used at Northwest High School. The high school currently has four small academies organized by academic and career themes all on one campus.

Before there were Arizona golf schools, there had been golf lessons going on for hundreds of years overseas. Initially, the modern game of golf involved teams of players that would take turns hitting the ball back and forth across a golf field. It seemed more like soccer with a miniature ball and sticks. Prior to this, it is unclear where exactly the game of golf emerged from. Theories of who the first golfers were include the ancient Romans, the Celts, or the Huns.

During medieval times, golfers began playing by the principle of the uninterrupted second shot. With this adaptation, and the idea of each team now playing its own ball, this game became (somewhat) golf as we know it and quickly gained immense popularity, replacing the former most popular sport of archery. During this time that tensions between Scotland and England were running extremely high, archery had been so vital to Scotlands national defense that eventually, it was made that playing golf in Scotland was a criminal offense punishable by hanging! History has it that at least one golfer for sure lost his life this way, but eventually peace with England returned and golf was not outlawed any further.

A predecessor to todays golf schools like Arizona golf schools was formed in the late 19th century. In 1888 the first golf club in the United States was formed in Yonkers, New York. The club members came to be known as the Apple Tree Gang. Their first golf course was a 3 hole course that is said to have began and ended near a large apple tree. The first 18 hole golf course in the United States was the Chicago Golf Club in 1892. 30 Chicago businesses pitched in the funds needed to build the course, at $10 donated by each. A 9 hole course was built, the historic Downers Grove Golf Course, and the following year 9 more holes were added.

The United States Golf Association was created in the summer of 1894 because of a dispute between two golfing clubs. Both apparently hosted a golf tournament, without any knowledge of the other club, and each club declared the winner of their tournament to be the National Amateur Champion. It was suggested that the real champion be decided in an official golf tournament. An official golf organization group would be in charge of the event.

A huge meeting between the St. Andrews Golf Club, Newport, the Chicago Golf Club, and two other clubs took place, creating the Amateur Golf Association of the United States, later known as the USGA. From this point on, golf slowly rose to become the main prestigious recreational game in the country. Thus began the need for golf instructors, teachers, schools, and golf resorts across the country. From Florida to Minnesota to California to Arizona golf schools have become a league of their own in passing on the traits that make golf the incredible sport that it is.

The Columbus Schools’ partnership programs will continue into the 2006-2007 school year. These programs are conducted jointly with Columbus Schools and local and state universities, colleges, academic organizations, community organizations and area volunteers. The programs are wide ranging and cover lots of different subjects and grade levels.

The Early Childhood Development Center at Columbus Schools’ Weinland Park Elementary School is a partnership conducted with the Ohio State College of Human Ecology. This center is planned to open in the 2006-2007 school year. The facility will be able to offer aid to around 90students and their families. The students accepted will be cared for by the Ohio State students, who will benefit from an opportunity to practice what they have learned in the classroom. Columbus Schools’ Early Childhood Development Center at Weinland Park Elementary School will offer the use of student’s observation gallery, a creative arts studio, family advocacy offices, and an educational kitchen. While providing a valuable service, the center will also be used to conduct research and model practices developed at Ohio State.

The Time Dollar Store was created in May of 2005. This partnership program involves Columbus Schools’ Medary Elementary School, the PK-12 Project After School and Summer Youth Development Committee and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Columbus. The Time Dollar Store focuses on parent and guardian interaction and involvement in the Columbus Schools. Parents can volunteer their time and skills and receive payment in Time Dollars, which can then be traded for household item and school supplies. The activities that parents can volunteer for include running a PTO meeting, helping create bulletin boards, distributing flyers or operating the Time Dollar Store. The Time Dollar Store was run at first by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Columbus but is now run by parent volunteers. The program has created a chance for students and parents to share their experiences at the school.

All of the Columbus Schools are participating in a teacher development partnership program with the Ohio State Department of History and the Ohio Historical Society. The program is divided into two sections, History WORKS for middle and high school teachers and History WORKS II for elementary teachers. The original History WORKS program is an ongoing project funded by the federal Teaching American History grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Part of this project created a website that will benefit teachers and their students. The program has three parts: monthly seminars, summer workshops and the creation of the web based resource center. All the seminars were conducted by and held at Ohio State’s Department of History. The summer workshops were more intensive and held at area Columbus Schools. The History WORKS program focused on six themes: Faces and Places: American History

through Ohio Biography; Turning Points: The Constitution and American Democratic

Institutions; The United States in the World: American Foreign Relations; Migration

and Immigration: The Peopling of America; Common and Uncommon Cents: American

Economic History; and Differing Perspectives: Social Movements and Social Change.

The elementary teacher project History WORKS II is a newer project that has the same goals of teacher development. Over 100 teachers from the Columbus Schools are participating in this project. The project hopes to increase elementary school teachers’ knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of American history through an intensive, ongoing professional development program. This program is a little different in its design than the History WORKS program. It is conducted with Ohio State graduate students who hold training, which included school-year seminars and a two-week summer institute. Their was also an ongoing lecture series featuring distinguished speakers and panel discussions brought middle and high school teacher participants from

History WORKS together with their elementary colleagues three times over the year to make American history a central focus of the Columbus Schools.