What a unique opportunity I had this evening. My principal was called by the Reagan Library and Museum which is not far from where I live and where our school is. I don’t think he was interested in having a big contest and as the journalism teacher and such, he asked me if I would serve on an educational advisory committee that the library was forming. I agreed.
Well, we met tonight. The most unique feature of the Reagan library is that in 2005, it was bequeathed the Boeing 707, tail number 27000 that served as Air Force One for seven different Presidents ending with President Bush (43). It was the main aircraft used by Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan. After that, it was largely mothballed, but occasionally the succeeding Presidents have had use for it such as in the 1994 L.A. earthquake when President Clinton came to survey the damage. LAX was closed to inbound traffic and a 747 could not land at Burbank, so they brought 27000 out with the President and his staff.
Anyway, the library has a very impressive learning and education center that is an interactive role playing game in which students may come and role play as the President, Cabinet members, military officials, members of the press, etc. The game they play deals with the invasion of Greneda known in 1983 as Operation Urgent Fury. They’re given scenarios (most of these are 5th through 8th graders who know nothing whatever about that military action) and they have to make choices. In the Oval office, for example, I played President Reagan. We were told what was happening and then I asked for counsel from each of my advisers played by the other teachers. Robert played Cap Weinberger and Jason played Jim Baker–it was a lot of fun and we all saw the potential in this unique and technologically advanced critical thinking game.
Then, we ate a boxed dinner, and discussed at length the ways in which the scenario could be made to work for high school students. We had good vigorous discussion about how things would work, for example, in a historically accurate scenario of the attempt on President Reagan’s life. It was fairly obvious that the library would like to do that scenario, but there are other possibilities to deal with as well and one of my colleagues, a teacher at Thousand Oaks High School and an old college buddy of mine, brought up the very interesting idea of making the scenario about Reagan’s assumption of office and then the subsequent attempt on his life, etc.
We ran through all of the open ended scenarios which high school kids, a little (though not much) more nuanced in their thinking, could run through a role play and make critical decisions about both domestic and foreign policy and even some discussion about the Constitutional succession of the President.
As a group, we will be continuing to meet to discuss more possibilities for the learning center. Most of the teachers are history and government folks, but I represented the journalism group and there was a teacher from Ventura who was a speech and debate teacher as well. It was a well-rounded group and I have to say, a smart, savvy, quick thinking and intelligent group as well. It was an honor to be a part of the whole thing.
