Assignment

I found yesterday a yearbook from my time at McMinnville High School, a yearbook from 1927. I have this as it relates to an assignment I gave to my senior classes back in the day. I had access to yearbooks from 1910 to the present day. Students perused the books, picked out one student, then wrote a biography of that person, based on the activities listed in the book, plus the culture of the area of the time. This was one of my most popular assignments, and students really got into it. One young man, who worked after school at a senior care center, found a lady in his 1940s yearbook, who was in the care of his facility then. His report was spot on, and collected the accurate thoughts of a McMinnville student from a few years ago. Fun times, and a good assignment.

These pictures remind me of the scene in Dead Poets Society where Robin Williams’ character, John Keating, shows his class the photos of old alumni, and tells them, “Carpe Diem…seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary.”