Pearl Harbor anniversary observed

I always think of my old friend Dick Ferguson of Carthage whenever Dec. 7 rolls around.
I am sure the local media have been in touch with Dick again this year, especially since the number of those who survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor continues to dwindle with the passing of each year.
It was in 1999, during my first year of teaching at Diamond Middle School, that Dick was kind enough to talk to a couple of my creative language arts classes. His stories about the attack and his time at Pearl Harbor had the kids listening raptly.
During the question-and-answer session following his presentation, one eighth grade girl in the back row raised her hand and said, "Mister Ferguson, who won this war?"
I cringed, and did so once more when another girl piped in before Dick could answer, "Yeah, I want to know that, too."
Dick patiently answered the question.
I was embarrassed for the girls and talked to Dick about it later after the students left the trailer in which I was teaching. "Don't worry about it," he said. "I run into that every time I talk to students."
That is why it is so important that we continue to take every opportunity we can to tell the students about this and other historical dates in U. S. history.
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On the same general subject, my next-door neighbor on the second floor at South Middle School, history teacher Rocky Biggers, will hold the premiere of a video he compiled on Pearl Harbor this morning in the South auditorium. He is using many of the skills he picked up during the Joplin R-8 School District's Technology Leadership Academy, an ongoing effort made by the school district to take a couple of dozen teachers each summer, have them undergo intensive training in technology, learning about everything from making videos to websites to using powerpoint in the classroom. Those teachers then give presentations to other teachers and are available to help the faculty with technology projects. I attended the summer sessions two years ago, and they have made a difference, helping to modernize instruction in the R-8 School District.