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For those that hadn't heard about this, Dreyfus appeared on Bill Maher's show this past Friday and he discussed a meeting that is to be held with the Martha's Vineyard school system concerning the need to bring the teaching of Civics back into the classroom. To that end, I wrote to the Martha's Vineyard newspaper to see if I could get anymore information about this meeting. Here is the response I received from them this morning. -------
Dear Sydnie, This is what I got from the superintendent's office... Best, Rachel Nava Rohr
Folks
In case you are getting questions about the Richard Dryfuss Civics conference, it is being held at the Katherine Cornell Theater in Tisbury on December 6th from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. We are still working out all the details; however, it appears that Richard discussed the conference on national TV and we are getting calls. The idea is for Richard and a group of knowledgeable civics education folks to discuss the importance of teaching civisc and come up with a list of follow-up ideas to get the topic back into the curriculum in a bigger way.
We hope to have the conference available on MVTV and on the web, but details are still being worked out at this time. I will have a list of the "important people" who will be in attendance, but I have been told that Richard asked people like George Will and Bob Bennett to attend.
I'll keep you posted.
Jim
James H. Weiss, EdD Superintendent of Schools Martha's Vineyard Public Schools
The Martha's Vineyard Civics Conference
What is Civics? Is it necessary? If it is necessary can we revive it? If we revive it then how do we do it and when?
The Martha's Vineyard Public Schools and Richard Dreyfuss invite you to join a Conversation about Civics.
In America, the public schools were founded to educate young people and produce capable citizens for the country. Today, testing is driving the curriculum making it inevitable that schools have reduced or dropped civics instruction. This reduction in focus has all but eliminated the tools necessary to run a democracy: dissent, debate, logic, reason, civility and critical thinking. While many national leaders and educators have discussed the importance of teaching such tools, few are able to do anything to fix what is potentially a crisis of epic proportion. Richard Dreyfuss and the Martha's Vineyard Public Schools would like to bring this conversation into focus and discuss the necessity of teaching such tools.
To start this important process, we are inviting a select group of educators, administrators, students, scholars and members of the community to participate in the discussion with hopes to develop and pilot a project on Martha's Vineyard using technology and storytelling to engage, inform and inspire a new generation of Americans in what it takes to be a citizen of a true democracy.
Please join us on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 from 7 - 9 PM at the Katharine Cornell Theater, (Tisbury Town Hall) 51 Spring Street, Vineyard Haven, MA.
We will be filming the event: A signed release will be required. Refreshments will be served.
Please call the Office of the Superintendent of Schools at 508.693.2007 to confirm your attendance. ---------
Bolding is mine so people don't miss that they are attempting to get it on the web as well. The noted "guests" in the email don't thrill me at all, but Dreyfus should be able to make quite a good case for this addition and that should be worth watching.
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