I Agree 100% With Stacy Spink

As an Historian, among a myriad of occupations and degrees I hold, I agree 100% with Stacy Spink on his letter about Memorial Day. A lot of our basic American history, and world history for that matter, is not being taught in our schools. I taught community college in Kansas for two years, and also basic composition at a university for two years, and I was shocked by the lack of knowledge my students had on what, when I was growing up, was practically considered common knowledge. I always wondered how did these students even get into a junior college or a university. Granted, not all of the students were lacking, but I would say a majority were, not knowing things like the origin of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Labor Day, etc. I checked with some of my colleagues about this and some of them were equally vague. I asked one if they knew how we get the dates for Easter, an he said he wasn't sure but ''they are probably determined by the American calendar company.'' I had to close my mouth tight to keep from laughing. So it is not just students, it is teachers too. Our whole education system has gone awry.

–Angela Shipp, Castro Valley