LA PALMA : Walker’s Innovative Program Honored

After competing against schools nationwide, Walker Junior High become one of two schools in the country to receive the Social Studies Programs of Excellence Award.

The award is given annually by the Washington-based National Council for Social Studies. The other award went to a New Jersey high school.

“The variety of student involvement in their (Walker) program is exceptional,” said Frances Haley, executive director of the 26,000-member social studies professional association. “This isn’t just passing on information. You have to get students engaged.”

Student involvement is the key for three social studies teachers in adjacent classrooms at Walker.

“The program is really to give students the opportunity to go out of just book work and into outside activities that expand their horizons,” said social studies program chairman and teacher Bill Anderson, who has taught at Walker for 25 years.

Morris Aborne and Doug Sterling, the other two veteran teachers in the program, agreed.

“We want students to actually experience social studies,” Aborne said. “We want them to know what it’s like to feed 200 guests in a medieval castle or develop a budget for an entire city.”

Assignments include dressing in handmade costumes, composing and performing period music and dances on video, and taking on the persona of historical figures, the teachers said.

Referring to a lesson called Eminent People, Sterling said students select an individual and immerse themselves in research and writing. They are then required to perform a specific segment of that person’s life and stay in character, he said.

Popular figures chosen include Eleanor Roosevelt, Clarence Darrow and George Patton, all in appropriate dress, the teachers said.

While the lessons are as varied as the teacher’s personalities, others are required fare.

One required lesson is History Day, when students prepare videos and papers on themes such as the “Individual in History.” Honor students go a step beyond with Youth in Government. The two-day intensive program includes touring the city, visiting city departments and preparing a budget for a mock city council meeting.