Anne Arundel social studies teachers says the Mideast peace conference in Annapolis is helping connect students to the real world.
“We?re finding a way to infuse discussions on the conference into what we?re already teaching students in the curriculum,” said Todd Smith, social studies department chairman at Southern High School.
The courses being affected are 10th-grade world civics and ninth- and 12th-grade U.S. government, he said.
Students in the world civics class are learning about the Ottoman Empire, which consisted of the modern countries of Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Smith said.
“I think all my teachers will stress that what?s happening in the world today is relevant to what they?re studying,” he said.
“There is a connection.”
Meanwhile, the government students are focusing on the role of the media, interest groups and protests on politics, he said. This fits with the conference since rallies have been taking place and hoards of media crews are expected to converge on Annapolis.
“To varying degrees, schools are providing an overview of the situation, key players, what it means to students and the potential impact it could have on their lives,” said schools spokesman Bob Mosier.
“We?re close enough, I think, that the kids will feel some sort of impact,” said South River High School Principal William Myers, referring to the conference beingheld at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, a distance of about nine miles from Edgewater.
