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Monday, January 25, 2021 Continued from page 1. McPhillips decided to create a separate channel for kids who preferred to complete coursework instead of discussing the riots while she facilitated conversation through discussion questions from PBS’s article “Classroom resource: Three ways to teach the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol” in her class’s main channel. McPhillips tried to remove her opinion from her conversations with her students. “I wanted them to process those feelings and share those feelings with each other rather than me interjecting my own opinion about the situation,” McPhillips said. “I feel it’s more important for the students to hear each other’s views rather than my view.” Meanwhile, U.S. Government and Criminal Justice teacher Jonathan Goodman spent class answering questions about the impact of the pro-Trump riots on the government. Before classes, he had tracked what was happening in anticipation of questions students could potentially ask. Goodman believes that his role as a social studies teacher, in contrast to teachers in other departments, puts him in an unique position to discuss the events with more context. “My goal is to teach, so I want to make sure that students have their questions answered and they have an accurate sense of what is likely to happen in the next step. But I also want them to be able to evaluate information to learn about what’s real, what’s less real and to think about some of the ongoing questions that we always ask in government,” Goodman said, “and so I always want to circle back to the themes that we are worried about (in U.S. Government).” Junior Felicia Manful participated in discussions in both her Language and Composition and her U.S. Government classes. While she discussed her opinion on the contrast between the police’s treatment of people during the pro-Trump riots and the Black

Lives Matter protests, she was surprised that most people chose not to participate in the discussion. “I really think more students should have said something because this is not something you can just shrug off and go, oh it doesn’t include me, it doesn’t matter. Because if they talk about it, and we know what they’re thinking, maybe we can educate them or something, or we can know what they’re feeling or what their thoughts are,” Manful said. Sophomore Sven Walsberg’s German and U.S. History classes discussed the events. Although Walsberg appreciates this opportunity for students to come together and share their thoughts, he believes the discussions should’ve only taken place in Social Studies classes. “I think history should be taught in history class,” Walsberg said. “If it happened in every single class, it would basically be like every single person is a teacher, and they’re memorizing what they have to say for the next class because they’re going to say it in every class. So, to have a place and have a common ground to talk about it in social studies is great, and I feel like that is acceptable, but having that place in any other class, I feel like, is just out of line.” Following the discussions in class, Goodman received several emails from students thanking him for the opportunity to discuss in class and following up on some of the conversations in class. Goodman is thankful for the opportunity to discuss the riot with his students. “I think the endless number of hours that I spent over the last week learning things myself really benefited when I could answer some of those questions that were not easy to answer,” Goodman said. “As a social studies teacher, I live for these conversations. I embrace them. They are opportunities for growth and education, and so I tend to really get excited by having these conversations, and I fed off the energy that I think students brought as well.” Trump’s second impeachment,

Val Pucci/The SPOKE

March turns to riot: Trump supporters can be seen riled up and largely ignoring social distancing and mask mandates as they gather at the capitol steps with flags waving. the aftermath of the capitol attack In the aftermath of the events at the Capitol, members in the House voted 232 to 197 to impeach and charge Trump with “incitement of insurrection” on Jan. 13, a week after the riots. The occasion, brought on after claims of voter fraud by Trump that were made in an attempt to overturn the election results certifying Biden’s win, marked the first time a president has ever been impeached twice. The article for impeachment detailed accusations against the former president for inciting the mob that

stormed the Capitol, stating: “Shortly before the Joint Session commenced, former President Trump addressed a

crowd at the Ellipse in Washington, DC. There, he reiterated false claims that ‘we won this election, and we won it by a landslide,’” it said. “He also willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged— and foreseeably resulted in— lawless action at the Capitol, such as: ‘if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.’” The article further criticized Trump, stating that he “gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government” and that he “threatened the integrity of

the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government.” After witnessing the events that unfolded on Jan. 6, junior Will Riggs noted the implication of Trump’s actions leading up to the riots and the role he played in stirring the dissent amongst his supporters that was unleashed. “What we saw last week with the attack on the Capitol, I think that that’s just a period on the end of the sentence that’s been written for the past four years throughout his presidency,” Riggs said. “It’s unfortunate that he’s going to be

remembered that way, but he incited the whole thing.” Senior Will Norris agrees with Riggs’ sentiments about Trump’s role in the riots, citing the former president’s and his supporters’ echo chamber of biased information as a source of the anger. “These people, they treat (Trump) like a god,” Norris said. “I think that (the biased information) really just catalyzed what was just pent up racism, pent up aggression towards people that aren’t like themselves. So, I’d say, (Trump) was the one who lit the fire, but the oil had already been poured on.”

Violence strikes the capitol design by ananya Kulkarni, co-editor-in-chief and photos by val pucci, staff reporter

Val Pucci/The SPOKE

Maybe the SAT and ACT will just go away?? No, no, that’s just wishful thinking, you’re still going to have to take it. Many schools that are “test optional” this year won’t be next year. So time to start thinking about a plan for getting really, really good at it, even if you really, really hate standardized tests. Find out more at CrimsonReview.com.

Val Pucci/The SPOKE