In Search of Elephants and Authenticity
In typical millennial fashion, each student at my 2002 end-of-year award ceremony was to receive an individualized certificate of honor. Second grade had left me a dissatisfied 8-year old with a science class composed of lessons about earthquakes, weather patterns and animal habitats. Where were the mad scientist chemical reactions, the explosions, the space travel?! Ms. Frizzle’s fantastical field trips with the Magic Schoolbus and the Incredible Edibles kit delivered by Santa had skewed and screwed my expectations. On one occasion I broke my frustrated silence and questioned unassuming Ms. Whittenberg: “when are we going to learn REAL science?!”
She failed to suppress a laugh. I suppose my question was “poignant” and “meaningful” because she quoted me in front of the entire school. They laughed too. And naturally, I received the Science Award.