"Every calling is great when greatly pursued."
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
How do we instill in our students a passion for the past? Passion for the past is about Thomas Jefferson's maxim, "Any nation that expects to be ignorant and free is never what was and what never will be." We need to know about who we are and where we have come from, good or bad, if we are to move forward as a people and nation. We cannot possibly know who we are or where we fit into the scheme of things unless we have a solid understanding of how we have gotten to where we are. Memory shapes our character. Our goal as a social studies department is to instill in our future generations the story of our past. The department strives for a humanities-based approach to teach history which allows students to experience and feel history through the study of art, music and literature. In so doing, we hope that the muse of history, Clio, one of Zeus' nine daughters, will beckon students with her siren call. In answering her call, students will embark on a noble quest which will reap many rewards along the way.
