Week Six

This Week

This week we began our study of South Africa as students were exposed to an overview of South African history, followed by group research on topics related to the system of apartheid and how black South Africans fought back against (and ultimately overcame) the apartheid regime. Students also took their last Geography Quiz on South America, and next week we will begin looking at Southern African countries. 

Students will be working tomorrow during the Plan E day on their Who I Am pages. You can now find them on our DRSS 10th Grade website here.

Upcoming Week

Students can study for the upcoming test, which will cover South African countries identified in this quiz - http://lizardpoint.com/geography/africa-southern-quiz.php.

Additionally, next week we will continue our study of South Africa by preparing for simulations whereby students will role-play people from one of four groups - a member on the Board of Directors for Coca-Cola in the 1980s, an activist seeking to change Coke's role in South Africa, an investor pushing for adoption of the "Sullivan Principles," and another investor urging the company to stay the course. We will also be viewing the movie Invictus, which chronicles the efforts made by Nelson Mandela to bring his country together after the end of apartheid through sports. Students will be writing a short essay about racial reconciliation in South Africa after viewing the movie in segments throughout the week.

Next week it might be fun to study the poem that resonated so deeply with Nelson Mandela and inspired the movie title and talk about it with your son or daughter. The text is printed for you here:

Invictus

By William Ernest Henley

 

Out of the night that covers me,

      Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

      For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

      I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

      My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

      Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

      Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

      How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

      I am the captain of my soul. 

Hope you have a great weekend, and don't forget about Plan E tomorrow!

~Mr. Grieve