Tin-Foil Helmets and Cardboard Busses

Zach's second grade class just had "Famous American Day" at school. Each little tyke was assigned a Famous American (although the definition of "Famous" was somewhat fluid, ranging from Thomas Edison and Abraham Lincoln to a Detroit Red Wings hockey player). The kids all looked cutely authentic dressed up as their American as they nervously leaked short bursts of semi-factual information at the class parents.

We had a little girl as Johnny Appleseed, complete with a stock pot for a hat, who "got food for everyone out west so everyone was even". George Washington was there, famous I was told, for being on the one dollar bill and freeing the slaves." Dolly Madison knew she was married to a president but couldn't remember which one. Eleanor Roosevelt did "good things" for people, but she had no idea what these good things might have been. John Glenn was present with a tin-foil-covered football helmet. Seems he is famous for "flying or something." And Abraham Lincoln had a nicely constructed miniature log cabin at his desk, and was twice as famous as George Washington because he was on the five dollar bill AND the penny.

Annie Oakley was very shy for a gunslinger. Jackie Robinson was famous for the dates he was born and died, I was instructed. Rosa Parks sat HERE (little girl pointing to the front seats of a cardboard bus) when she was supposed to sit THERE (points to back seat). Other notables were Dr. Seuss, the Wright brothers, and Alexander Graham Bell, all with similar adorable stories.

Zach was Henry Ford. He had practiced his facts very well and I just couldn't trip him up. Zach is very good at remembering facts when he wants to. He was just as shy as Annie Oakley, though.

Grandpa had tried to drive the Model T to the school but it was cold outside and Lizzy wouldn't start up. So he brought lots of Ford memorabilia to grace Zach's desk. Zach really appreciated that.

All in all, an interesting and enjoyable romp through a kids-eye-view of history. What really matters, I learned, is not the dry facts of these notable figures existences, but the fact that we remember them at all.