Welcome to the Centennial Project of 2004-2005.

You have read the textbook, worked diligently on your PRIMES sheets, and listened to Mr. Gillespie prattle on about the historical significance of this, that, and the other thing - but you still can't seem to maintain your intellectual curiosity in class.  What was it like to trap beaver along the Platte River back in 1796?  How did the first settlers interact with the Arapaho, Pawnee, Sioux, and Cheyenne?  What did American cities look like in the 1830s?  What was it like to travel west in a covered wagon?  What impact did railroads have on the West?  What political, religious, intellectual, military, economic, and/or social factors contributed to the development of America as the country was settled from the Atlantic to the Pacific?  Centennial will help you to visualize, and subsequently internalize the far-reaching answers to these questions and others.  It will help you to identify with characters involved in places and circumstances that align with what we are studying in class at any given time during the school year.  However, it will require class work, journal writing, and completion of a final project. 

Two classes each month will be devoted to the miniseries Centennial, based on the novel by James Michener.  Each class showing will coincide with a topic or topics that were either covered during the weeks prior, or to be covered in the weeks ahead with references made to Centennial as they appear in the curriculum. 

Killer Angels    by Michael Shaara

" In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation's history, two armies fought for two dreams.  One dreamed of freedom, the other a way of life.

    Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle.  There were memories.  There were promises.  There was love.  And far more men fell of those Pennsylvania fields.  Shattered fortunes, forgotten innocence, and crippled beauty were also casualties of war. 

The Killer Angels is unique, sweeping, unforgettable - a dramatic re-creation of the battleground for America's destiny."