The Poor Kid That Got Samuel Adams
Alexander is in the 5th grade and in the fifth grade you study the Revolutionary War. I studied the Revolutionary War in 5th grade and did a report on Nathan Hale who I referred to as Nathaniel Hale for a good long time because I knew Nathaniels and no Nathans. I remember little about my studies except that Hale supposedly said:
I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.
Which I thought was a load of shit. At age ten I was pretty sure that historians were prone to exaggeration. At age 41 I’m even more sure. Who says that?
Alexander will be studying Thomas Jefferson who Mr. G insisted was not a president but we all seem to think he was. Mr. G was telling Alexander that he was the brains behind the Revolution and penned the most important parts of the constitution and then the two of them went on to talk about history in ways that I really didn’t understand. I picked up my phone and googled Thomas Jefferson to confirm the fact that he wasn’t ever president. Shut up. I’m really good at math and science.
In addition to researching their historical characters the 5th grade class will do a Walkthrough Revolution. Alexander will play the part of Jefferson. He doesn’t see Jefferson as a large role and thinks that the boys who get to play George Washington and Benjamin Franklin are the luckiest.
“You know who is unlucky, Mom?” He asks me. Not waiting for an answer he says, “Tony. Tony has to research Samuel Adams and it’s going to be impossible.” He waits a beat and says, “He’s going to google that guy and the only thing he’s going to find is beer.”
My kid may know a lot about history, but we’ve got to teach him a thing or two about search.