Course Information
Participating Teachers
Rey Waltz - Chinook Middle School
Exploring Our Places: Rey's Narrative
It seems to me that a person views history through the lens created by their own experiences. In my case, that lens is partly formed by the eight different schools I attended before moving to Washington from southern California in 5th grade.
When I look at Lacey I see the California suburbs of my youth. Lacey seems to be almost just retail, with long streets of stores, although I know that behind those stores are the houses. Lacey always seems so…transitory. Very few people I meet grew up and plan to grow old in Lacey. Lacey feels very much like a community of people who, like me, are transplants from someplace else.
I wonder how a place filled with people who share little common history moves forward to become a strong vibrant community. How do the few community members who have roots in Lacey deal with the vast majority of us who do not? How do we work together to create city that is greater than the sum of its parts? Those seem to be some of the issues facing the people (both adults and students) who live where I teach. Of course in many ways these issues are just reflections of issues facing the nation as a whole. How do we as a nation welcome (or not welcome) those who have newly joined our community from someplace else? How do we incorporate those individuals into our culture so that our nation remains greater than the sum of its parts?
