The Life Box (Part 5)

In the 1970s, my high school—like many others of that era—divided students into groups based on the school's perceptions of our potential. Students clustered in the "AP" category enrolled in college-prep courses with demanding workloads. I often found the homework expectations overwhelming. There were many nights when my Parents permitted me to stay up beyond my bedtime so that I could finish assignments.

Most homework projects were rewarding. I enjoyed doing the newspaper project that accompanied our study of Romeo and Juliet. The same teacher who assigned the newspaper project also required us to write a play. I wrote a story about a man fleeing life behind the Iron Curtain. 

 

During my freshman year, I took a "World Civilizations" course. It was one of my favorite classes. Early in the year, the teacher assigned a "team project." We were to work in groups of two or three girls, and we were to produce a document that illustrated our understanding of ancient Greece. I chose to work with a classmate that I had met in gym class during the first week of school. 

 

Here are some snapshots of the assignment we submitted forty-one years ago. A few thoughts popped into my head as I looked at the project today: (1) In my first career, as an historian, I focused my research on Mediterranean piracy (see the last paragraph of the project's text); (2) The teacher who created this assignment still teaches at my high school; and (3) My partner on the project and I keep in touch, and she occasionally visits the blog.

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