Un-American History

Here's my high school US history class of juniors and seniors. You can see all their bright and beautiful faces (except for one that was ducking to hide from the camera). But they are often the joy of my day and keep me on my toes. It adds an interesting twist teaching American history to a classroom of kids who (all except two) aren't American and haven't ever really lived in America. It is a challenge for sure!

There are eight nationalities just among these kids: Nigeria, Rwanda, Mozambique, Kenya, India, Brazil, United States and South Africa. One thing I'm grateful for is the difference in perspective. How do things like WWI relate to us living in Mozambique? How did the slave trade impact people living in Africa instead of only how it impacted people living in North America? What can we learn from the Reconstruction Era as we are living in a country that is in the process of recovering and rebuilding from a Civil War that just ended a short 14 years ago? How about capitalism and how America has been built on that, amidst living in a Socialist country recovering from communism?

Often it is hard to find relative connections to what we are studying and the world that we live in here. But we still find ways to bring things back to our everyday lives, even if we do tend to stretch it a little bit. I'm thankful for the opportunity I've had to not only teach these kids, but also build relationships with them, that most days include a lot of laughing.

In August, when I first walked into CAM, the week before school started, I was caught off-guard when I was eagerly asked to teach high school US history. I am not certified to teach history or high school. And I haven't even taken a history class since my first semester of college. But God's grace is sufficient and I actually ended up being the most qualified person for the job, simply by the fact that I am American and most recently studied history. Who would've thought. So I trusted the Lord for His wisdom and strength in an area I didn't feel so competent in and it has turned out to be a huge blessing. I'm so grateful to not only have relationships with each of these students, but also the ability to be able to teach them, laugh with them and see them learn new things. Teaching isn't always about the curriculum or the concepts being presented, but more often than not about the overall impact that can be passed down and values that can be shared.