European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 25, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse World but we should t forget about the problems Here like the Many teachers said it takes something startling and often violent to attract their students attention that explains they said Why there was so much More interest in what happened last Spring in China than in what was happening now in East Germany Poland Hungary and Czechoslovakia Chris Eames a senior studying 20th-Century history at Kirkwood said the events in Europe did not make for great television it seems like a lot of television programs Are saying the same thing Over and Over again. Sure it s great to have everyone climbing Over the Wall but you have three hours of news and it s All the same he said. In country after country All you have is Tom Brokaw standing in front of some crowd talking after awhile it becomes a White another source of frustration for Many teachers is their own inability to provide accurate up to Date information on the subject or even to be Able to relate their study material to current events in Texas where statewide curriculum Reform five years ago required All teachers in specific subjects to follow a definite timetable. World history teachers Only last week reached the Middle Ages they Felt hard pressed to step out of the chronology to discuss 1989 Eastern Europe. Textbooks also pose difficulties geography teachers in Austin this year received new books from Harcourt Brace Javonovich entitled the Earth and its chapter 21 is on Eastern Europe. The summary at the beginning of the chapter begins Eastern Europe lies Between the maritime nations of Western Europe and the soviet Union. Before 1945 All eight nations of Eastern Europe East Germany Poland Czechoslovakia Hungary Bulgaria Romania Yugoslavia and Albania had Strong political ties to Western Europe. Today All have communist or authoritarian economic systems and totalitarian dictatorships " those books will be in the schools for at least the next five years. New history books Are arriving for next year and Jane Michael at Mccallum High has already looked at them and fears they too Are already outdated. In the honors government courses at Anderson High in Austin and in Jean noun s advanced placement european history class a i Annapolis senior High two places where the level of awareness about events in Eastern Europe was High so too was the level of apprehension. When teacher Hancock asked his students How they Felt about recent events senior Wes Hutchison blurted out i m kind of worried. Since i just turned 18 and could be drafted. It scares me. I just think there s a lot of unrest and tension and right now it could flip either Way to More democracy everywhere or to civil wars. It makes me apprehensive. It s great but it s going too yeah it s like a fantasy said classmate Meredith Tobey. I mean one morning i m having breakfast and my mom tells me the Wall is Down. Something like that should take years it s happening too Fasti in a show of hands. More than half the class agreed with that assessment. In Annapolis Brian Pomerance expressed concern that any action the United states makes to help the Eastern bloc countries might backfire. The main problem there is if America goes in and tries to make them More democratic the communists Are just going to shut Down the Walls again he said. It s too fast. Students also worried what a United Europe might do to the United states in world economic Competition. I think we should be worrying about Germany economically rather than militarily said Ron Kenan. If they Combine West German technology with East Germany s natural resources it s going to be a powerhouse " these students accepted rapid change nonetheless As a fact of modern life propelled by modern communications. There was no Way the communist countries could avoid learning about the freedoms of the West any longer the students said the world was becoming too Small. David Murray Wells a senior who visited the soviet Union last summer As part of an Exchange program brought to class a letter he received a few Days ago from his Young interpreter from Minsk. The Young soviet pen pal preferred to Call himself Paul rather than Pasha and told Wells that he had received the copies of animal farm and other books by George Orwell that had been sent to him. Corrupting me for another trip the russian Friend wrote of the books. Great. Wonderful. A thumped of he said there were food shortages in Minsk and even talk of civil War and ended with a truly american sign off reflecting the universality of teen age culture even in the midst of indifference. How you getting on Dave it ended. So write me imber25,1989 students know about the Wall first hand by Dave Walczak education writer Ost of the 19 students in Judy Mcguane s advanced placement history class in Kaiserslautern West Germany know firsthand what the Berlin Wall was like. They can recall its twisting course through the former German capital. They can relate stories about checkpoint Charlie where in the old Days Stone faced soviet soldiers greeted us visitors As they passed into the City s Eastern sector. All but four of the 19 Kaiserslautern High school 11 the graders in Mcguane s class have visited the once divided City at least once. And that makes teaching about current events especially those occurring in Eastern Europe an easier task for Mcguane and her colleagues who teach in the overseas schools. You Don t have to Tell them to keep up on the said Bill Mcgrath describing Ramstein High school advanced history students they re doing that Mcgrath who chairs the school s social studies department said personal experiences separate department of defense dependents schools students from their stateside counterparts. Lots of them have been near the Border. Several of them were in Berlin that weekend when the Wall was opened. That kind of thing is pretty Carolyn Scholten who teaches us history us. Government and Model United nations at Zweig Rickon High school said living in Europe gives american students perspective into the political changes sweeping Eastern Europe. They see East German cars on the autobahn she said. So it All becomes part of their Shawn Mccarthy agrees. The Ramstein High school Sophomore was attending a soccer tournament in Berlin the weekend when the Berlin Wall crumbled prompting a three Day Celebration involving virtually every Berliner. It was sad that they had to be behind the Vall All that time he said referring to the East berliners. But it was exciting that they finally got Shawn 15. Is working on a group project about Berlin As part of his current events class. He and two of his soccer playing teammates in the class plan to intertwine our experiences in Berlin As part of a semester ending class project due in Early january. Not every overseas student is thrilled by the watershed events engulfing Eastern Europe. Bryan Forsyth who is working with Shawn on the project said Many of his teammates went to see weekend at Berne s and did not take part in the celebrations surrounding the Wall. History was being made and half the team wanted to see a movie he said. You could see a movie any but Christina Courson 15, said most american students overseas take events in Eastern Europe seriously. I think kids in America Are just Happy that we re defeating the commies. But that s not the attitude of a lot of Christina who is also enrolled in Ramstein High school s current events class said her final class project is geared toward trying to find a purpose behind i be been doing a lot of Reading on what s been happening with the Wall and with Czechoslovakia. I m taking scriptures from the revelations and from the new testament on what the prophets have said and relate that to what s going on. It s been a lot of Carol Julian who teaches world regions classes or ninth graders at Kaiserslautern High school said she Drew on student experiences in handing out assignments dealing with Eastern Europe each of them had to bring in five articles or interview someone she said and a lot of them did interviews because they knew people who had come from Eastern Europe relatives or someone who lived in their each of Julian s students had to give an Oral presentation about something they Learned about Eastern Europe. Topics ranged from the Berlin Wall to the inferior Quality of condoms available in the soviet Union a lot of them had human interest stories such As How they saw these cars on the Highway with Der Deutsche Demok Raische Republic Julian said some of them came in with pieces of the Wall that their parents have brought Back for them " Julian said that on average at least five students in each of her classes has first hand knowledge of Lite in Eastern Europe. Their knowledge is Richer. There s More interest. They could describe what it was like to go through the Borders and the tension that they Felt when the bus was being Anna Mulrine. A we Brucken High school senior. Remembers that my stomach kind of turned Over last year when she visited East Berlin. She credits such experiences for hiking her interest in Eastern Europe. Enrolled in the school s Model . Class Anna tries to stay current on the subject by Reading news magazines and debating fellow students. Our debates always carry on outside the classroom she said. Christina Courson Shawn Mccarthy Branfo Lytfi the stars and stripes Page 15
