During the 2006-2007 school year, when Barack Obama was beginning his run for the presidency, I could feel a sense of excitment building in my 8th grade social studies class in the South Bronx. "Yo, Mr. Savit," kids would occaisionally ask during one of our frequent (and encouraged) digressions into current events, "You think we can really have a black president?"

"I don't know," I'd answer. "What do you think?" The ensuing conversation might encompass the following points:

1. "No. We're never going to have a black president because white people are too racist."
2. "I agree. He is going to get assassinated before he can even make a serious run for President."
3. "Yo, Mr. Savit, Anthony's looking at me funny! Make him stop!"
4. "She started it!"
5. "OK, OK, we'll stop."
6. "I like Hillary better anyway. Bill Clinton was good and besides, she's from New York."
7. "Bush is probably just going to steal another election anyway." (My students understood that the Constitution prevented Bush from running for another term, but had a vague suspicion that Bush was going to stay in power through some Machiavellian coup d'etat. Unfortunately, they didn't use the words "Machiavellian coup d'etat," although that would have been really cool).
8. "Seriously, he is going to get assissinated, yo."
9. "I dunno, maybe he can win Iowa."
10. "Mr. Savit, are there black people in Iowa? He ain't winning Iowa."

I should mention that I taught American history from slavery through the present--not exactly the most uplifting time in world history--so my kids' skepticism about America's better angels was probably somewhat justified, given the material I was bombarding them with every day. Still, I could feel their excitement building as they contemplated a President Obama.

This fall, as I watched the returns from my new home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I wished more than anything that I could teach my old middle school students for just one more day. I wonder if  the election of President Barack Hussein Obama washed away some of the cynicism that had been reinforced by my students' daily history classes that often dealt with some of the most appalling events in human history. I hoped that the weeks surrounding the election were anything but business as usual in my old school.

I was happy to read that schools across the country are emphasizing this historic event and are building special educational programs around it, and I think that watching Obama take the oath of office is something that the kids who are lucky enough to see it are never going to forget.  I can still remember huddling around a classroom television watching a number of historic events, like Yassir Arafat shaking hands with Yitzhak Rabin on the White House lawn, or the first O.J. jury reaching a "not guilty" verdict.  But a classroom focus on current events should hardly be reserved for symbolic moments like the swearing-in of our first black Chief Executive. Too often, we ignore the educational potential of the world around us.  In our zeal to focus kids on the next test or on the next skill,  we forget to teach our children about the kinds of things that people around the world get excited and animated about.  If the Democratic nominee for President this year had been another white guy named John, the election would have still been important to teach about--and the inauguration of a 44th white male president still would have still presented a great pedagogical opportunity.

I was lucky enough to teach American history, and was lucky enough to teach a great group of students who attacked the topic with gusto--so I may have a somewhat unique perspective here.  But I think that as the glitz and glamour of the election and the inauguration fades, we should bear in mind that our students need more than just reading and writing and math with a sprinkling of current events thrown in when something truly unprecedented happens.  Students need literature, history, science, math, current events, science, art, and the opportunity to engage in deep philosophical discussions on a daily basis.  Perhaps the excitement generated by this election will mark a sea change in educational philosophy--but if it doesn't, our hope here at The Generation Project is that the community can provide students with these rich educational experiences by sharing with them the very stuff that makes our lives so rich.