Whitney Young HS World Wonders Project

A few weeks ago I received an email from a friend of mine – Monique Maher – who teaches history to high school students here in Chicago. Her World Studies class was working on a project about the Wonders of the World and she thought it would be great if I came in and shared some of my experiences from visiting the places. Both flattered and excited about the opportunity, I immediately signed up for a visit and made my way down to Whitney Young High School yesterday.

I had a great time chatting with the kids and I was absolutely shocked about how much they knew about the world. I walked them through a slideshow of 100 pictures and it seemed like they knew the name of every place that I showed them. This group of kids would have smoked my High School history class (the one I was in back in 2000) in a world wonders trivia competition.

The only explanation I can think of for the global awareness difference between a High School class in 2012 and just a decade earlier in 2000 is that kids today grow up with the internet and Wikipedia. They learn so much more about the world beyond the pages of textbooks than we did when I was younger. Or perhaps they have a really good history teacher Thanks for allowing me to make a visit Monique!

Photo of the Day – A Typical Train Ride in Mumbai – Mumbai, India

Yesterday I took the subway in Chicago (the ‘L’) from my apartment down to the High School I was visiting on the west side of Chicago. Travel was on my mind and for some reason this image from a train ride I took through Mumbai popped into my head. I couldn’t stop thinking about how the same basic experience – riding the train – could be so different from country to country.

Notice that there are no doors on the train in the photo. It was definitely hot on this day in Mumbai and passengers would hang outside of the train as it moved to try to cool down with the breeze!