Saturday, March 06, 1999
Diverse lesson in respect
Literary works help students learn tolerance
BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — Inside the walls of Jan Ferguson's Holmes High classroom, American literature means learning how people of other times, places and backgrounds experience the world.
Authors on the reading list are unknown to most students: the Delaney sisters, Lorraine Hansberry, Harper Lee, John Steinbeck and Elie Wiesel. Second-block American lit, from 9:45 to 11:15 a.m., is much more than reading when Mrs. Ferguson is at the head of the class.
Mrs. Ferguson requires everyone to address one another with courtesy titles and last names. Along with literature, she is teaching respect. She expects her class to practice what it learns.
“I expect you to get in the habit of calling each other Mister and Miss,” Mrs. Fer guson told her class during the second week of the semester. “Get in the feeling of being an equal part of this class.”
There were grumbles, moans and complaints from the students. “I think I'm in trouble when someone calls me Miss,” Andrea Feebeck said. Matt Williams said the titles make him feel old. Mrs. Ferguson did not relent.
Equality with a recognition of diversity is the underlying theme of Mrs. Ferguson's English class. She realigned what she teaches when a switch to block scheduling meant cutting out some of the class material.
“When it came down to what I really wanted to teach and get into, I realized the focus was on diversity,” Mrs. Ferguson said.
The topic is nothing new for the 25-year teaching veteran. A graduate of Miami University, Mrs. Ferguson was there in 1970 when the college experienced unrest over civil rights issues.
Since then, she's been involved with issues of race, working to get people to treat others respectfully. Outside the classroom, Mrs. Ferguson participates in Building Hospitable Communities, a project involving several Northern Kentucky groups working toward solutions for race problems.
Teaching about race relations through literature is one of the most important things she's done, Mrs. Ferguson said.
“This is the worst I've ever seen it as far as intolerance for each other and seeing violence as a way to deal with it,” Mrs. Ferguson said about the way people act today.
Her plan for making a difference starts with the 11th-graders in her class. Mrs. Ferguson wants to encourage her students to make a difference, so she showed the movie Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and assigned them to read Having Our Say by Sadie and Bessie Delaney. The movie is the story of Jane Pittman, an uneducated black woman who learns about life by watching. The book is 100 years of history through the eyes of two educated black women.
The three women illustrate the different perspectives people can have of the same events.
“Jane Pittman was waiting for someone else to be the leader,” Mrs. Ferguson said to her class. “"Someone else can do it better than me' is what she thought. We can't sit back and do that.”
At the end of the movie, Miss Pittman decides she is the one who has to take a stand against injustice, and she does. Now halfway through the semester, stu dents are coming to the same conclusions.
“On that first day, I didn't appreciate having to use Mister and Miss,” Candace Mullins said. “But I have learned to respect others.”
On Friday, students worked on posters about African-American achievers for a school-wide contest. Miss Mullins researched Janet Jackson's life. That study, coupled with the Delaney sisters, opened Miss Mullins' eyes to new perspectives and ideas.
“I give a lot of credit to Mrs. Ferguson,” Miss Mullins said. “She's really helping a lot of people.”
Jenny Sithoumma said what she's learning in class will translate right into the business world. “You have to use respect in business and college, so we might as well start now.”
Whitney Gover likes using the courtesy titles. “It's all right,” he said. “It makes me feel like they respect me more.”
Matt Williams, who at first said courtesy titles made him feel old, is taking the diversity theme to heart. He researched the civil rights movement for his poster, a topic he said most people know about but don't fully understand. It's kind of the way students see Mrs. Ferguson.
“A lot of people said we wouldn't like her because she's different and she's tough,” Mr. Williams said. “But she respects us as much as we are supposed to respect her.
“With the civil rights movement, you see that most older people are racist. You read and you see why people are that way. It doesn't give an excuse. It gives an understanding.”
READING LIST
Reading list for Jan Ferguson's literature class at Holmes High:
• The Delaney sisters' Having Our Say
• Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun
• Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird
• John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
• Elie Wiesel's Night
True friends don't tolerate drunkenness
Fumes sicken 44 schoolchildren
Lack of calls angers parents
Poodle credited with alerting owner to fire
Fake hero story hits Vietnam vet just 'like a bullet'
Bad pacemakers cost firm $70 million
Pacemaker recipients will be monitored
Reforms may put disabled to work
Son gives mother half a liver
Swan sightings giving wings to pilot's prayer
Art museum director to resign at end of year
Bill could bring airport extra $6 million
Judge withdraws trip request
Volunteers renew search for Erica
Help for new moms pledged
Jazzy Jarreau takes journey with Pops
Larger study looks at Fernald
Polluters, communities dispute cleanup costs
Time Warner has new deal for Lebanon customers
Architect's career touched many schools
Area lakes stocking up for fishing season
City wins battle over fountains
Debate over jail site stalled
Diverse lesson in respect
Fairfield may erase school fees
Fixing pool gets a lot cheaper
Ft. Mitchell merger looks at finances
Merging three fire departments studied
TRISTATE DIGEST
Westwood hat's in, already
Yellow Cab buying site
