S C H O O L S
&
E D U C A T I O N
LESSONS OF
THE PAST AMY KING LEADS HER HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN LEARNING FROM HISTORY’S TEACHINGS
A
BY ANNA-RHESA VERSOLA PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN MICHAEL SIMPSON
n email from a stranger was the nudge Amy King needed to set her on a course that would change her life and the lives of her high school history students. The message was from Wendi Pillars, a science teacher at Jordan-Matthews
High School in Siler City. Wendi was a 2017 Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, who was selected for the professional development opportunity to gain field-based experience thanks to a partnership between Lindblad Expeditions and the National Geographic Society. Wendi used the fellowship to go to the Arctic. “She emailed me wanting me to consider applying,” Amy says. After not hearing
back, Wendi followed up again with Amy, who teaches at Chatham Central High School, to make sure she didn’t pass up on the chance at a learning adventure. “Her encouragement led to my application, although we had never met at that
point,” Amy says. “She has certainly served as a mentor to me since then.” Amy became one of 50 teachers out of 2,500 applications chosen for this year’s fellowship. She was matched to visit the Normandy beaches and the Normandy American Cemetery at Omaha Beach, specifically. “I teach American history all day long,” Amy says, so she appreciated the chance to be a student herself on the expedition. In Normandy, Amy met two historians: Mark Bielski, director of Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours and Stephen Fisher, who is writing a book about D-Day. Stephen’s research helped Amy identify the Army division movements of the late Carl Scott, a Bear Creek resident who landed in Normandy on D-Day. This allowed Amy to bring to life Carl’s written retelling of that day, something she shared with students as part of her October unit focused on World War II. We asked her to share the importance of history, continuing education and the value of different perspectives.
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CHATHAM MAGAZINE
WINTER 2022-2023
Why did you want to teach history? I decided as a sophomore at Meredith College that I wanted to teach history. I was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow with a full scholarship to attend college on the basis that once I graduated, I would teach for four years in a North Carolina public school. I had known since high school that I wanted to teach. As a freshman at Meredith, I had two professors who made a considerable impression on me: Michael Novak and Carolyn Happer. They introduced me to the world of Western civilization, and I was enthralled. Both had an ability to tell stories which made you feel like you were back in time. They were never shy about teaching hard history and being honest with their students. I developed an insatiable desire to learn more history because of [them] and determined that this fascinating subject was what I wanted to teach. Why is it an important subject? I believe that recent events in America have proven that history is an invaluable subject. Students need to hear the truth, no matter how uncomfortable. When we as a people face our past, then we learn the traits of empathy, understanding and duty. These are the characteristics of a strong citizenry. History education has been under a fierce and relentless attack as of late. It is a shame that any government body or citizenry would consider it vital to teach less history. We can never educate our children too much about our country’s past: its glorious victories, such as WWII or the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as well as its merciless horrors, such as genocide carried out against Native Americans or widespread lynchings targeting African Americans. History education is invaluable, as it teaches our children to think deeply and critically, as well as to analyze information.