- 2 days ago
Students of a special boarding school for kids with learning disabilities are challenged to learn about and recite the Gettysburg Address.
At the tiny Greenwood School in Putney, Vermont, fifty boys, ages 11 to 17, struggle through myriad learning differences to memorize and recite the Gettysburg Address, a rite of passage at the school for the last 35 years. Past failures and humiliations are heroically confronted as their presentations open the door to what Lincoln himself called, “a new birth of freedom.”
Interweaving the history of this most famous of American speeches with the contemporary journey of the boys at Greenwood, The Address reveals the timeless resonance of Lincoln’s words, while culminating in the triumph of the human spirit
At the tiny Greenwood School in Putney, Vermont, fifty boys, ages 11 to 17, struggle through myriad learning differences to memorize and recite the Gettysburg Address, a rite of passage at the school for the last 35 years. Past failures and humiliations are heroically confronted as their presentations open the door to what Lincoln himself called, “a new birth of freedom.”
Interweaving the history of this most famous of American speeches with the contemporary journey of the boys at Greenwood, The Address reveals the timeless resonance of Lincoln’s words, while culminating in the triumph of the human spirit
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00:00:00On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln traveled to the now quiet battlefield of Gettysburg,
00:00:19Pennsylvania to dedicate a cemetery filled with the Union dead who have perished there
00:00:26in the previous July in the greatest battle ever fought on American soil.
00:00:33The President's speech lasted just two minutes.
00:00:37He started off by reminding his audience that it had been only 87 years since the founding of the Republic,
00:00:44and then went on to embolden the Union cause with some of the most stirring words ever spoken.
00:00:51He hoped that the terrible battle might signal a new birth of freedom for his nation.
00:00:58It was the second time to wait on the public,
00:01:01we could call to remain dead,
00:01:03but it did not feel that it didn't happen at all.
00:01:07We there were people who were there where they were who dofr
00:01:16They could be destroyed...
00:01:17Yeah so, we were convinced that...
00:01:19It was about 6.7 I inked a команд recommendation and I'm going to choose
00:01:24There's like two minutes to crawl in the bed, okay?
00:01:37Two minutes past.
00:01:39Oh, you want to go to school.
00:01:44We're going to have Matt all day today.
00:01:53Okay, guys, let's please sit up straight in our chairs.
00:02:10Let's get ready to start morning meeting.
00:02:14Today, we are introducing the tradition here at Greenwood,
00:02:19studying and memorizing the Gettysburg Address.
00:02:23And in a lot of ways, it is a rite of passage here at Greenwood.
00:02:29All the students have done it in the years since we've been at school.
00:02:34It's an example of hard work and perseverance.
00:02:38It's not an easy thing to do to get up and speak in public
00:02:41and certainly recite something from memory.
00:02:44Some of you might get it the first year.
00:02:46Some of you, it might take two or three years, and that's just fine.
00:02:50This is a Greenwood coin, and the only way for students to get this Greenwood coin
00:02:58is to recite the Gettysburg Address.
00:03:01And I'll be giving these coins out February 15th when you get up on that stage,
00:03:08stand tall, and recite the Gettysburg in front of your peers and family.
00:03:13So that starts today.
00:03:16Let's end Morning Circle on that high note.
00:03:19Let's sit up straight in our chairs.
00:03:22Our kids have complex learning profiles.
00:03:34There are different diagnoses like dyslexia, like dysgraphia, like ADHD,
00:03:38like executive functioning, and our students have a combination of many of them.
00:03:45So much focus has been on what they're not good at.
00:03:50They don't realize what they're good at, and that, of course, is not healthy.
00:03:54So much of the experience at Greenwood really is an awakening.
00:04:09An awakening of the talent, a discovery of the passion.
00:04:12And the success sometimes first happens in the wood job or the music studio,
00:04:18not the tutorial room.
00:04:19But that is a kernel of success that then you build on.
00:04:23The Greenwood School was founded in 1978 in the tiny rural town of Putney, Vermont,
00:04:45as a boarding school for boys with complex learning differences.
00:04:49Greenwood, which teaches and treats only 50 boys, ages 11 to 17,
00:04:56is often the place of last resort for desperate families.
00:05:00Many of their sons have been bullied and marginalized at other schools.
00:05:05For 35 years, Greenwood has challenged its students to memorize, then publicly recite the Gettysburg Address.
00:05:14A formidable task for anyone, but a mind fear of terrors, anxieties, and difficulties for these children.
00:05:22Well, it's kind of a shame though.
00:05:31I didn't want people to find out how to school I was going to.
00:05:35You know, I didn't want people to get the wrong image that I'm disabled or I'm challenged or handicapped.
00:05:43Even though I know that's not the case for people that go to this school.
00:05:47If you have a learning disability, they're not going to say you have a learning disability.
00:05:50They're going to say you're dumb.
00:05:52In my last school, if you were really like in the remedial classes, you were considered not worth it.
00:06:02You were stupid.
00:06:03You were worthless to the world and nobody cared about you.
00:06:07It wasn't fun.
00:06:08It was never fun.
00:06:10In my emotional state when I came to Greenwood, when I first arrived, I was just so torn apart and so left out and so nothing to everybody.
00:06:21And Greenwood just kind of is like a place where you can regain that state of I belong somewhere.
00:06:31It always amazes me, the kind of courage that the boys have.
00:06:37It's very difficult when you're a kid to be different.
00:06:42And for our boys, there is a difference that isn't external.
00:06:49It's not like they have a birthmark or something like that.
00:06:52There's a difference that is much deeper.
00:06:56And for many of them, a difference that they understand very little about and that takes a long, long time to come to terms with, to understand.
00:07:09And not only for them, but for their families.
00:07:12Many of them go through experiencing incredible hardship because of their differences.
00:07:19Dyslexia, a general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence.
00:07:34Dysgraphia, an inability to write coherently, resulting in slow, clumsy, hard to read handwriting, and difficulty in putting thoughts to paper.
00:07:50Executive function, the cognitive process that regulates an individual's ability to organize thoughts and activities, prioritize tasks, manage time efficiently, and make decisions.
00:08:07Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a syndrome, usually diagnosed in childhood, characterized by a persistent pattern of impulsiveness, a short attention span, and hyperactivity, interfering with academic, occupational, and social performance.
00:08:24So, you know, one of the things that I think is very important is to understand the Gettysburg before you learn it, piece by piece.
00:08:39So that you're not just repeating the sentences, that you're really understanding how the sentences are constructed.
00:08:45Okay, so, so we're going to look at this first section.
00:08:49So here's the first question. What is the first question?
00:08:52It's the subject of this sentence. This is one sentence.
00:08:56Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
00:09:05That is one long sentence.
00:09:07Is it Iran?
00:09:08No, it's not Iran, actually. It really isn't. That's a good question.
00:09:12So, you know that sentences have subjects, actions, and expanders, right?
00:09:18So, our expanders usually are, they tell when, where, how, any other expanders you can think of?
00:09:30Why.
00:09:31Or what?
00:09:32Yeah.
00:09:33Four score and seven years ago. That's an expander. Which one of these expanders does it tell?
00:09:39When.
00:09:40When.
00:09:41When.
00:09:42And when was that? That Lincoln's talking about a time.
00:09:481863.
00:09:49He's talking about a time that's 87 years prior to, to his speech.
00:09:54Yeah.
00:09:55So, do you know about that? I have a little, so, four score. Score is 20, right?
00:10:00One, two, three, four score would be 80, plus seven.
00:10:0787.
00:10:08Mmhmm.
00:10:09So, 87 years ago. So, that's what that means.
00:10:12What's the subject of that sentence?
00:10:15Our, the fathers.
00:10:17Our fathers. Yeah. That's what the, that's who the sentence is about.
00:10:21So, Lincoln starts out with, four score and seven years ago, our fathers.
00:10:26So, what are the actions or the doing words in this sentence? What did our fathers do?
00:10:32They brought forth.
00:10:33Brought forth. They created. They brought forth. And what did our fathers bring forth?
00:10:39A new nation.
00:10:40Mmhmm.
00:10:41The United States may have been born with the understanding that all men are created equal.
00:10:50But by the spring of 1861, as the Civil War began, four million Americans were still owned by other Americans.
00:10:57Eleven states, wishing to preserve the institution of slavery, had seceded, and great armies were mobilizing north and south.
00:11:09We've divided the Gettysburg into five paragraphs for learning.
00:11:19We can't. I'm going to read it.
00:11:20Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
00:11:33Well, you did that very well. Can you tell what was going on in paragraph one, Gio, about four score?
00:11:41How America came together. And in paragraph two, it's about what's happening.
00:11:46Oh. Yeah, well, paragraph two is like present.
00:11:50Okay, so paragraph one is about the history of the country. And can you show on here where President Lincoln is?
00:11:57He was the 16th.
00:11:59He's the 16th. And when he says, our fathers who started the country and broke away from the King of England for freedom for people.
00:12:08It was George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.
00:12:15All right. And then the other thing that we talked about in the second paragraph, he said we're engaged in a great civil war.
00:12:23Which broke up the country.
00:12:26Yes.
00:12:27So this most of the country wasn't even colonized yet.
00:12:32All right.
00:12:33Well, not colonized.
00:12:34All right.
00:12:35First came South Carolina.
00:12:36Let Gio say something too, all right?
00:12:37First came South Carolina, and then ten other states broke away.
00:12:41Yeah.
00:12:42So it started with-
00:12:43South Carolina.
00:12:44So here's the, like the borderline between North and South.
00:12:47Right.
00:12:48And the South wanted to, they said, we want to be our own country.
00:12:51We don't want anything to do with the USA anymore.
00:12:54We want to be the Confederate States.
00:12:56And-
00:12:57And what did Lincoln say?
00:12:58No.
00:12:59I said no because we were, because we were a country.
00:13:04We broke from Britain, and we don't want to break again.
00:13:08So, because then we would be weak enough for-
00:13:12Oh, back at that, when the country started?
00:13:15Yeah.
00:13:16Yeah, we didn't want to go back to that kind of-
00:13:17Yeah.
00:13:18Where people can boss other people around.
00:13:20But Missouri-
00:13:22Okay.
00:13:23Yeah, and then so we-
00:13:24That was a problem.
00:13:26Right.
00:13:27They drove in 11, so they stayed in Massachusetts, which was Maine and Massachusetts.
00:13:32Yeah.
00:13:33So they were in Maine and the state.
00:13:34Yeah, okay.
00:13:35Well, you guys, you bring a lot to the table.
00:13:37What you want to do first is take your T-square, line up your Verizon line.
00:13:44So I'm going to go up to the top of my first line, the top of the roof.
00:13:50And I'm going to line it up with my vanishing point.
00:13:55For most children in our culture, school is the second most important place that they are after home.
00:14:02It's the center of their social life.
00:14:04It's the center of their intellectual life.
00:14:06It is the place where they grow and meet challenges.
00:14:12For a lot of these guys who have language-based learning disabilities, that's not a friendly environment.
00:14:20It's an actively hostile environment.
00:14:23It's an environment which poses a lot of challenges.
00:14:28Similarly, they pose a lot of challenges for their teachers, their classmates, sometimes their parents.
00:14:38These are kids who frequently come to Greenwood quite convinced that they're stupid or that they are inadequate,
00:14:46that they are in some way lacking or at fault.
00:14:51So for a kid who has that experience, to undertake the Gettysburg and to be able to say,
00:14:59I believe in myself enough that I can do this, that's asking a lot.
00:15:04Ethan, last night your assignment was to memorize the next part of the Gettysburg Address.
00:15:09Can we hear how you did?
00:15:11Yeah.
00:15:12You want to start from the beginning?
00:15:13Sure.
00:15:14Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
00:15:24Stop. You missed the word forth.
00:15:26Okay, so let's go back and try that again from the beginning.
00:15:29Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
00:15:39The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
00:15:49The living rather?
00:15:50It is for us, the living rather, to be dedicated here for...
00:15:55To the unfinished work, which they who fought here...
00:15:59Is it of which?
00:16:00No, there's no of.
00:16:01Okay.
00:16:02Once again, dedicated here to the unfinished work, which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
00:16:12So that's good work.
00:16:13You did good work last night when you were practicing that.
00:16:15Awesome.
00:16:16How are you feeling about it?
00:16:17Better.
00:16:18Better?
00:16:19Good.
00:16:20Awesome.
00:16:21Because I know that since repeating for me is good, then I can do that.
00:16:22Yeah, yeah.
00:16:23So Benj, your job last night was to just memorize the first part.
00:16:24Okay, put your hand down.
00:16:25There you go.
00:16:26And when you're ready, you'll start with the word four score.
00:16:27Okay.
00:16:28You'll start with the word four score.
00:16:29Okay, so I'm going to be dedicated here to the unfinished work.
00:16:30Yeah.
00:16:31So I'm going to be dedicated here to the unfinished work, which they who fought here have thus far
00:16:32so nobly advanced.
00:16:33Okay.
00:16:34So that's good work.
00:16:35You did good work last night when you were practicing that.
00:16:37Awesome.
00:16:38How are you feeling about it?
00:16:39Better.
00:16:40Better?
00:16:41Yeah.
00:16:42Good.
00:16:43Awesome.
00:16:44Benj?
00:16:45I know that since repeating for me is good, then I can do that.
00:16:46Yeah, yeah.
00:16:47So Benj, your job last night was to just memorize the first part.
00:16:50Okay, put your hand down.
00:16:51There you go.
00:16:52All right.
00:16:53And when you're ready, you'll start with the word four score.
00:16:55Four score, seven years ago, our fathers fought forth on this nation.
00:17:02Continent.
00:17:03Continent.
00:17:04Oh.
00:17:05Continent.
00:17:06A new nation conceived in liberty and brought on this.
00:17:11No, dedicated.
00:17:13Oh.
00:17:14Dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
00:17:18Correct.
00:17:19Stop.
00:17:20You get confused on after liberty and then you get confused on after proposition.
00:17:25So when you're standing up here, right, you're going like four score and seven years ago.
00:17:28I kind of zoned out.
00:17:29So I kind of zoned out.
00:17:30Okay.
00:17:31All right.
00:17:32Ethan, will you sit down?
00:17:33Will you sit down, Ethan?
00:17:34Okay.
00:17:35Seed liberty.
00:17:36Dedicated.
00:17:37But I also kind of zoned out my...
00:17:39All right.
00:17:40So Benj, Benj, I get that and you get that, don't you?
00:17:43That I'm a space cadet.
00:17:44Yes.
00:17:45That sometimes attention can be an issue and that's what it is, right?
00:17:49That's what it is for you?
00:17:50Wait.
00:17:51It's not with the word space cadet.
00:17:52We will practice you standing straight and holding attention, keeping your attention for the duration of the time you're saying the Gettysburg Address.
00:18:03Okay?
00:18:04We'll practice that.
00:18:05Okay.
00:18:06So you're in the fifth and last part?
00:18:09Yeah.
00:18:10Depending on if I can memorize that because I always get confused on...
00:18:16Dedicated here to the unfinished word, which they who...
00:18:20It's right here.
00:18:21Fought here.
00:18:22They who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
00:18:25Why can't you switch it around, have so far nobly advanced?
00:18:29It makes...
00:18:30Yeah.
00:18:31That's why they have old English.
00:18:33You're in English.
00:18:34So good.
00:18:36I'm in English.
00:18:37I'm in English.
00:18:39And, you know all the language.
00:18:40Oh, you're in English?
00:18:41Let's go!
00:18:43So good.
00:18:52So good.
00:18:55Let's go!
00:18:56Let's go!
00:18:57Let's go!
00:18:58Let's go!
00:19:00Let's go!
00:19:01I want to see something, I want to see something.
00:19:06No.
00:19:07No, I can't do anything.
00:19:08Look, look.
00:19:09Look in there.
00:19:10There's something in here.
00:19:11I'm just serious.
00:19:12I'm just serious.
00:19:13There's something in here.
00:19:14Time to see.
00:19:31Do it, sis go make me do it.
00:19:36I did it.
00:19:37Ow!
00:19:38Here we go!
00:19:40Ah!
00:19:41No!
00:19:42Ah!
00:19:52Oh!
00:19:53Oh!
00:19:54Oh, oh.
00:19:55Oh me!
00:19:56Oh!
00:19:58Oh!
00:20:00I'm going to the last Rolling Stones concert.
00:20:07I'm going to be like 50.
00:20:11What?
00:20:12They're like 50.
00:20:13They're like 80.
00:20:1480?
00:20:15I know!
00:20:16I got everybody!
00:20:18Ha ha ha!
00:20:19Are you giving a tour thing?
00:20:24What?
00:20:25Are you giving a tour thing?
00:20:27What?
00:20:28What?
00:20:29I need some stuff.
00:20:30No.
00:20:31No.
00:20:32No.
00:20:33No.
00:20:34No.
00:20:35No.
00:20:36For school and seven years ago, our father brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived
00:20:41of liberty and to the proper, dedicating the proposition that all soldiers, I mean all men,
00:20:48are created equal.
00:20:50Let's slow down.
00:20:51Okay.
00:20:52Start from the beginning.
00:20:53Take a deep breath.
00:20:54Relax.
00:20:55Nice.
00:20:56You're doing this really well.
00:20:58You're doing a good job.
00:20:59Conceived in liberty.
00:21:00Conceived with liberty and dedicated to the population that all soldiers, all men, are
00:21:05created equal.
00:21:06For a lot of these guys, language-based tasks have always been difficult.
00:21:13It doesn't fit for them.
00:21:16So for those guys to have a complex language-based task that they have to master, Gettysburg is
00:21:26sort of the ultimate difficult thing.
00:21:29The language is complex, it's conceptually complex, it has all kinds of social meaning,
00:21:36and they have to get up there, and they have to tackle it, and they have to do it, and it's
00:21:40scary, but with enough pushing through and enough support, they can master it, and they
00:21:47do master it, and that's a great thing.
00:21:50Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation.
00:22:00Again.
00:22:01Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation.
00:22:07Conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
00:22:11To the proposition that all men are created equal.
00:22:32to the proposition that all men are created equal to the proposition that all men are equal are
00:22:37created equal created equal dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal
00:22:41created equal okay we'll work on that you say dead dead you say Kate okay good excellent there
00:22:55it was nice job nice job
00:23:25oh
00:23:32oh
00:23:34oh
00:23:37oh
00:23:39oh
00:23:42oh
00:23:44oh
00:23:46oh
00:23:48oh
00:23:50oh
00:23:52oh
00:24:12okay what happened you didn't you just stopped you kept starting and stopping were you unhappy with what you were doing
00:24:17No, it's just I'm the type of person that it has to sound the way it sounds or it doesn't sound at all.
00:24:24Well, see, Alec, you also have a sound in your head that you're trying to match it to, right?
00:24:29Yeah, it's not.
00:24:30So it's not, you're not there yet.
00:24:32You see how, like, when I'm singing, like, whoa, woman, oh, woman, like, how I'm, like,
00:24:37how I'm, like, putting my voice to, like, his, like, where he, like, kind of slurs it in some parts.
00:24:41You're trying to make your voice sound like his, right?
00:24:43Like Ray Charles, because otherwise it doesn't sound...
00:24:45That's the way you hear it.
00:24:46Like when I, when I listen to the radio and hear knockoffs of song, I'm like, pfft, and I just turn it off.
00:24:51I'm like, yeah, right.
00:24:52Yeah.
00:24:53Like, I like the original and it has to be the way the original is, but else it's not.
00:24:57Right.
00:24:58Well, there's a saying that I like a lot, the perfect is the enemy of the good.
00:25:02Did you ever hear that saying?
00:25:03No.
00:25:04The perfect is the enemy of the good.
00:25:05You guys get that one?
00:25:06The perfect?
00:25:07Not at all.
00:25:08If you're trying to be perfect, you won't even be good.
00:25:11Because you'll stop.
00:25:13You'll stop because, oh, I'm like, I did it wrong and oh, you know?
00:25:17So sometimes trying to be perfect gets in your way of just being good.
00:25:22This is one of the most famous speeches of all time.
00:25:27And this was like 200, 300 years ago.
00:25:31So even if you say it for like two minutes, it still means a lot.
00:25:37I'm probably going to be like back home with friends and they're going to be like, oh, what did you do?
00:25:43I'm going to be like, oh, yeah, I was wearing Gettysburg.
00:25:46And they're going to be like, what's that?
00:25:48And I can memorize half of it when they don't even know the first sentence.
00:25:52So that's going to be really fun.
00:25:54Usually it's always how my friends are always faster than me or read higher levels.
00:26:00But at least I can have a little jump start at something they probably will never learn.
00:26:07Gio learned in like a week.
00:26:09And I'm thinking it took him one week and it's taking me probably about like two months.
00:26:17Knowing that they can memorize it and probably going to get that coin.
00:26:24Maybe next year I can get the coin, but I'm really positive I'm not going to present it.
00:26:31I will present it when I learn the whole thing.
00:26:36So that's probably going to be next year.
00:26:39The coin is a coin for your school.
00:26:42It's not just like a regular good luck coin like a coin like the Basketball Hall of Fame coin or a penny.
00:26:51But it's a coin that is a school coin.
00:26:56It's worth something to you because you worked for it.
00:27:00I can tell my friends, ha, ha, public schools don't give you this coin that has your school name on it.
00:27:08They may give you a sweatshirt or pajama pants, but they don't give you a coin that says never give up.
00:27:15It's gonna give up, Bob.
00:27:32Epic!
00:27:33Are you seriously doing that?
00:27:35Yep!
00:27:36Let's do it for doing it!
00:27:39Ready, set, go!
00:27:43Fail.
00:27:44All right, go!
00:27:45So this is our finished idea.
00:27:46Okay.
00:27:47Bye-bye.
00:27:48Get in your mouth!
00:27:50Oh!
00:27:51I feel it.
00:27:52What?
00:27:53What?
00:27:54What?
00:27:55What?
00:27:56What?
00:27:57What?
00:27:58What?
00:27:59What?
00:28:00What?
00:28:01What?
00:28:02What?
00:28:03What?
00:28:04What?
00:28:05What?
00:28:06What?
00:28:07What?
00:28:08What?
00:28:09What?
00:28:10What?
00:28:11What?
00:28:12What?
00:28:13What?
00:28:14What?
00:28:15What?
00:28:16What?
00:28:17What?
00:28:18What?
00:28:19What?
00:28:20I started playing around with the Ruggs Cube since I was like... 14.
00:28:3614, then I kinda got addicted to it, so I just keep doing it every day, yeah. Then it
00:28:42just kinda became like a habit, and I don't really have to think while doing it, so it's
00:28:48pretty easy. To like solve, you need to like solve one layer first, then the second layer,
00:28:57then the top layer. First, I just think of like solving these two layers first, then
00:29:03the toddler is like the hardest part to like solve, so then it gets easier if you like
00:29:10do it every time. In my last school, everyone was treated the same way, and when I was there,
00:29:20I was actually doing pretty bad in school because I wasn't really that focusing in class, probably
00:29:26because I have ADD or something. When I moved here, I felt like, I felt as if my ADD stopped
00:29:34because like I had this motivation that made me wanna become a new man throughout my entire
00:29:42life. I actually really stuttered like a lot, and I noticed that this speech will actually
00:29:46kind of improve my stuttering, and my pronunciation in words too, my articulation in the TH sounds.
00:29:53I actually, I actually wanted to like, to actually recite the Guetta's record dress because there
00:30:04weren't, there wasn't anything else that I really wanted to like recite, but then I kinda
00:30:09noticed that the speech, the address was actually really inspiring to me. So if I recite this,
00:30:16this address in front of people, I think it will make me feel like I could actually do anything
00:30:22I want, and it will eventually make me feel like a new man, I guess.
00:30:30By the early summer of 1863, the war was not going well for Abraham Lincoln. The Confederacy had won
00:30:40a great victory the previous December at Fredericksburg, and in May, its Army of Northern Virginia
00:30:49had humiliated Union forces at Chancellorsville. Late in June, Robert E. Lee began a massive
00:30:59invasion of the North that would culminate in an epic battle. Fought amid the rolling farmlands
00:31:08and bountiful orchards surrounding a little town in south-central Pennsylvania, Gettysburg.
00:31:16So, can you read me the sentence? President Lincoln said his heart on the sleeves. Heart? Heart on the sleeves.
00:31:39Uh-huh. So, freeing is another word for you to practice. Can I hear that again?
00:31:44Freeing. Freeing. So, the R is tricky. Yeah. Okay. So, President Lincoln set his heart on freeing the slaves. So, what does that mean?
00:31:58Um. Did you say Valentine's too? No. Um, want. Want. Two. Uh-huh. What does that say? Wanted very much. Wanted very much.
00:32:10So, we've got your literal meaning for set your heart on and the figurative meaning. Figuratively, it means something you want very much. Yes.
00:32:19So, what's something that you have set your heart on? Gettysburg. On Gettysburg in what way? Uh, getting for a second or third place.
00:32:32For a second or third place. It's something worth setting your heart on if that's what you want to do. Yeah. Okay.
00:32:40So, um, what are you going to say in a sentence? Using set your heart on. I want to set my heart on Gettysburg first, second or third place in the Gettysburg contest.
00:32:54Okay. So, I have set, you already have that. Yeah. I have set my heart on. Okay. So, I want, first of all, I want very neat writing here on this one.
00:33:05You have to slow yourself down. Wait, um, where's the binder backpack?
00:33:14Do you have a better pencil? Yeah. Do you need a grip? Yeah, I have one.
00:33:19Where is your binder? How long? Okay. Well.
00:33:30He is fearless in terms of doing the Gettysburg even if, you know, he's, he's got this er, and we're working on it, but it's not, it's not really at, um, technically at performance level in terms of what he can do, but, um, so do you remember your sentence? Have you been thinking about it? Yeah. So, what's the sentence?
00:33:51I have set my heart on getting first, second or third place. Or, third place. Okay. So, you did really well on first and second. Do you know what happened on third? What? I heard it. I'm going to tell you, say it the way you said it. Third. Okay. Is that correct? Third? No. What did I do? Wait, wait, wait. I want you to be listening using your ears. I'm watching my mouth. I said third. Is that the word we wanted? No. What did we want?
00:34:21Third? Yes. Good job. So, so read this again. I have set my heart on getting first, second, or third place in the Gettysburg competition. Excellent. Okay. So, here are a couple of phrases that we need to practice before you get into saying it. Are you awake? No. Did you get enough sleep last night? No. No.
00:34:51How come? How come? My phone keeps going off. I don't fall asleep until 3 a.m. That's not good. Yeah.
00:35:01All fathers. Okay. All fathers brought forth on this content in your nation, conceived in your body, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
00:35:19So, I'll give you sentences on all of those. And all mastered. There's all mastered. Oh.
00:35:24One, two, three, four, five. That's a master. And how about?
00:35:30As a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might love.
00:35:37Okay. I'll give you a sentence on that. You know, the Gettysburg, if you win a prize, it's wonderful. But I think the best prize for you is the fact that you can master your mouth around these th and s sounds. That you can really learn to hear yourself and to correct them. Because I can't walk around correcting you all the time, can I?
00:35:55Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That wouldn't be so fun. That wouldn't be fun for me either. So, you have to really work on that yourself.
00:36:04Okay.
00:36:05You know, practicing those. That's why I gave you exercises to practice over the vacation. And you have to really think about those sounds.
00:36:12Okay.
00:36:12And especially when you're doing the Gettysburg. So, would you please turn off your cell phone tonight?
00:36:18Yes.
00:36:19Okay. It was a promise?
00:36:20Yeah.
00:36:21For all your teachers? Because it must be really hard being in school when you're yawning every few minutes.
00:36:26Yeah.
00:36:27Yeah. I believe that it is. Okay. Give me, just say the word rather before you leave.
00:36:34Rather.
00:36:35Tell me something that you would rather do.
00:36:38Sleep.
00:36:38I would rather sleep than be in school.
00:36:42Okay. I understand that. Some days I feel that way too. Bye. Have a good day.
00:36:47Bye. You take care.
00:37:08Let's put this for fun.
00:37:16Let's go.
00:37:17Let's go.
00:37:17Let's go.
00:37:18Let's go.
00:37:18Let's go.
00:37:19Let's go.
00:37:21Let's go.
00:37:27Make sure I do this very carefully, O.S.
00:37:40Alright, it's going to be a little windy, I'm sorry.
00:37:55I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
00:38:11I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
00:38:21I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
00:38:31I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
00:38:41I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
00:38:53I'm sorry.
00:39:05Dude, I did the best thing while I was home.
00:39:07I jumped off of my middle school roof and did a barrel hold down the hill.
00:39:11The 20 foot drive was awesome.
00:39:15So we're going to do one minute up and down and then we're going to drive in place for
00:39:22two minutes.
00:39:24I guess it's the day before Gettysburg, it's Valentine's Day.
00:39:30No, it's Valentine's Day, the day before Gettysburg.
00:39:34How funny is that?
00:39:36He's going to be reciting some of the Gettysburg Address.
00:39:43Ian often times gets a little bit too hyper in the way that he is not able to focus on
00:39:49what we want him to do.
00:39:51And so I prepare him by doing some aerobic exercise and then, you know, segue him into doing some
00:39:57push-ups and then the next activity he's going to be working on his core muscles.
00:40:02And so all of those things, all of those kind of elements help prepare him to do, you know,
00:40:08like prepare him to do something like in class that's more tedious, that has memory with it,
00:40:13that sustains the attention, that keeps him more in a state to be ready to do something that is academic.
00:40:20So if you're ready...
00:40:23The world will little note, no longer remember what we say here, but I can never forget what they did here.
00:40:28It is for us, the living rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work remaining before us.
00:40:33Which they...
00:40:34Which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
00:40:39It is for us...
00:40:41It is rather for us...
00:40:42It is rather for us to be dedicated...
00:40:44To be here dedicated...
00:40:46To be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us.
00:40:48That we take...
00:40:50That from these honored dead, we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave their last full measure of devotion.
00:40:57That these dead shall not have died...
00:40:59That we have...
00:41:00That we have resolved that these dead shall not have died in vain.
00:41:03That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom.
00:41:06And that government of the burnt people...
00:41:09For the people...
00:41:10By the people...
00:41:11By the people...
00:41:12For the people...
00:41:13Shall not perish from the earth.
00:41:14Okay.
00:41:15How do you feel?
00:41:16Cookie time.
00:41:17We made death cookies...
00:41:18Which...
00:41:19I came up with...
00:41:20Yes.
00:41:21Well mine...
00:41:22Uh...
00:41:23I kind of ran out of toppings...
00:41:25But I just chose my favorites...
00:41:27I don't know why I shoved sour patch kids in there...
00:41:31I don't know why...
00:41:32I was bored...
00:41:33Ned...
00:41:34Ned...
00:41:35What's with the hat?
00:41:36Can you tell us what hat's that?
00:41:38Can you ask him?
00:41:39I wanted to be an Olympic runner...
00:41:42I...
00:41:43Well I can't really train here...
00:41:45But I just keep my Jamaican hat on me...
00:41:48For bolt...
00:41:49And...
00:41:50Inspiration is always around me...
00:41:52With my hat...
00:41:53In the nose...
00:41:54I have like 10 gazillion hats...
00:41:56He comes over here...
00:41:57Thank you...
00:41:58Alright, come on...
00:41:59There we go...
00:42:00So we have to work kind of quickly...
00:42:03Because this is going to cool down...
00:42:04And just get thicker...
00:42:05Absolutely...
00:42:06And I see that...
00:42:07I want to do it...
00:42:08Wow...
00:42:09Go like that...
00:42:10And put it down...
00:42:11Wow...
00:42:12Use a spoon...
00:42:15You guys...
00:42:16Be a little more generous with the chocolate...
00:42:18No...
00:42:19No generousness...
00:42:20I don't need to...
00:42:21Josh...
00:42:22That doesn't mean to beat it up...
00:42:23You're going to need to be generous...
00:42:24More generous...
00:42:25What does that mean?
00:42:26Here...
00:42:27Where did he go?
00:42:31Where is he?
00:42:32Do we know where he is?
00:42:33Where is he?
00:42:34Um...
00:42:37Ned's frustrated...
00:42:38Because he doesn't know...
00:42:39The Gettysburg Address...
00:42:40And he wanted to reset it for you guys...
00:42:41But he doesn't know it...
00:42:42So he's...
00:42:43Very frustrated...
00:42:44Failing...
00:42:45Frustrated...
00:42:46He's getting pretty frustrated...
00:42:48And...
00:42:49Um...
00:42:50Easy...
00:42:51...
00:43:04He's getting pretty emotional...
00:43:06He's getting...
00:43:07He's getting...
00:43:08He's getting...
00:43:09He's getting...
00:43:10You don't have to be able to get it.
00:43:15You don't have to be able to get it.
00:43:20You don't have to be able to get it.
00:43:24It's an option.
00:43:27We can go on this page.
00:43:30We can go on this page.
00:43:33I don't care.
00:43:35I mean, the difference between these two numbers is how far apart it is.
00:44:04Okay.
00:44:05Three.
00:44:06Five.
00:44:07Good.
00:44:08Last one.
00:44:09None.
00:44:10Zero.
00:44:11Do it, it's a zero.
00:44:13One, two, three.
00:44:16So, Cooper, how far apart are they?
00:44:19How far apart are they?
00:44:21Okay.
00:44:22Three.
00:44:23Okay.
00:44:24Five.
00:44:25Good.
00:44:26Last one.
00:44:27None.
00:44:28Zero.
00:44:29Do it, it's a zero.
00:44:30One, two, three.
00:44:31So, Cooper, how far?
00:44:34Since last week when I saw you, how far did you get on the Gettysburg?
00:44:39I know, too.
00:44:41How far did you get?
00:44:42So, last week we were here.
00:44:43Far so far.
00:44:44Oh, so you've gotten all the way down to there.
00:44:46That's fabulous.
00:44:47That's great.
00:44:48Okay.
00:44:49Four score and seven years ago.
00:44:52Our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation.
00:44:56Conceived in liberty.
00:44:57I'm going to stop you for a minute.
00:44:59Okay?
00:45:00Because one of the words that we worked on was in there.
00:45:02And the word, you know which word on this?
00:45:04Nation.
00:45:05Yeah.
00:45:06Can you say new nation?
00:45:07New nation.
00:45:08Good.
00:45:09Now to start from the beginning again.
00:45:10Four score and seven years ago.
00:45:12Our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation.
00:45:16Conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
00:45:22Now we're engaged in a great civil war.
00:45:24Let's hang out with that.
00:45:40But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate.
00:45:43But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate.
00:45:46Right.
00:45:47We cannot consecrate.
00:45:49We cannot consecrate.
00:45:50Consecrate.
00:45:51Consecrate.
00:45:52Consecrate.
00:45:53Consecrate.
00:45:54Now do you know what that word means?
00:45:55Consecrate.
00:45:56I'm going to click around there.
00:45:58I'm going to click around there.
00:46:04Yeah, that worked.
00:46:05Four score.
00:46:06Seven years ago.
00:46:07Our fathers.
00:46:08What four?
00:46:09On this.
00:46:10A new nation.
00:46:12Cancene to liberty and dedicated.
00:46:15To the proposition.
00:46:16Now all men are created equal.
00:46:19What is the cause?
00:46:21Which they gave the last full measure of devotion.
00:46:25That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.
00:46:31That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.
00:46:36And that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
00:46:42Terrific.
00:46:43Terrific.
00:46:46Terrific.
00:46:47What we do, relative to the Gettysburg Address, is.
00:46:51We have them do a number of activities.
00:46:52And one of them is handwriting.
00:46:54And so, there are three posters here.
00:46:56This first one is from last year.
00:46:59This is 2012.
00:47:01and you'll see their cursive signatures and then some of the kids have written
00:47:07parts of the Gettysburg in print and some wrote the whole Gettysburg in
00:47:13cursive so it's part of their really assimilating the Gettysburg by writing
00:47:19it in cursive or in print and then signing off their signature and here he
00:47:28is Thomas good morning good morning how are you I'm good how are you doing so when we
00:47:33look at the Gettysburg address and you know we have divided it up into one two
00:47:41three four five sections just so that it's a little easier to remember so what
00:47:47I'm going to ask you to do is to write this part of the Gettysburg address and
00:47:54I'm going to get you a highlighter strip so that we can so if we pick this
00:48:03paragraph right here that's where it's going to stay okay and so that you
00:48:09don't have when you look up you don't have to decide which one was it the
00:48:12first one the second one or the third one so you're gonna start right here I like
00:48:18that good okay so let's have you start here we'll skip this space right here and
00:48:24just take your time okay so what we say here you're doing a great job I know it's a lot of it's a lot of work and
00:48:40it takes a lot of concentration
00:48:47it's good and then this is the last part of it forget what they did here period okay
00:48:59wow that was a task okay now we're gonna put this away you did a magnificent job it
00:49:07was really a lot of work to do that
00:49:37so
00:49:40so
00:49:44I'm
00:49:46I'm
00:49:47I'm
00:49:52I'm
00:49:54I'm
00:49:56I'm
00:49:58So I wanted to let you know that it's...
00:50:10One time!
00:50:14Come here!
00:50:28Woo!
00:50:58American culture
00:51:28American culture is identified as very individualistic, and yet there's a tremendous social pressure to conform and to be like everybody else, and to marginalize and pathologize people who function differently in all different kinds of ways.
00:51:44I will get parents who will say to me, I just want my kid to be normal. And sometimes I have to say to them, it's not his job to be normal.
00:51:58It's his job to be who he is. Does that mean there might be hardships ahead for him? Yeah, it does.
00:52:06But the hardship of trying to be someone who you're not is even worse.
00:52:11Okay, now we are engaged.
00:52:17And the grace of the war, testing, what?
00:52:28You're right. That was right.
00:52:44What are they testing?
00:52:49That nation, or any nation, can long endure.
00:52:56Terrific. You did it.
00:53:11Really? What?
00:53:12You did it. It's not making complete sense to you yet, but you got the words.
00:53:16All right? So this time, the other one took us two days to get that first sentence.
00:53:21This one's harder, and you got it in, wow, ten minutes.
00:53:25All right. Terrific.
00:53:27It's for us the living rather.
00:53:29It is for us the living rather.
00:53:30It's for us the living rather.
00:53:31Go again.
00:53:32It is for us the living rather.
00:53:33It's for us the living rather.
00:53:34It's for us the living rather to be dedicated to the unfinished world.
00:53:37Dedicated here.
00:53:38Here to the unfinished world.
00:53:39Slow down again.
00:53:40Can I just have the sheet in front of me?
00:53:42No.
00:53:43I can't look at the sheet.
00:53:44No.
00:53:45That's, that's, that's, that's...
00:53:46That's hard, isn't it?
00:53:47Abraham Lincoln did.
00:53:48Abraham Lincoln did.
00:53:49He did.
00:53:50He wanted it on his hand.
00:53:53All right.
00:53:54Now we're going to focus on this one.
00:53:56This is the one we want to spend our day on.
00:53:58Can you say this one for you?
00:53:59Conceived.
00:54:00Conceived.
00:54:01You wrote a sentence for that the other day, right?
00:54:03And what does con mean, race?
00:54:05Um, together or with.
00:54:06Together or with.
00:54:07Okay.
00:54:08So you might want to jot down the word together right there.
00:54:11And, um, is there a suffix on that word, Josh?
00:54:15Conceived?
00:54:16Uh, okay.
00:54:17ED is, okay.
00:54:18So it's, uh, it can be past tense.
00:54:21So let's see if we can find sieve, or there's also a version of it called sept.
00:54:26Found this.
00:54:27Oh, it's on the first page.
00:54:28Yes.
00:54:29Take, receive, receive, reception, accept, conception.
00:54:33Okay.
00:54:34And conception, um, has to do with, um, birth.
00:54:38Maybe, um, having a baby, but also, like, you could have some kind of, uh, concept or idea.
00:54:44And that's the way it is in the Gettysburg Address.
00:54:47The word detract is also in the Gettysburg, um.
00:54:51Track means to pull or, to pull or down.
00:54:55Okay, yeah.
00:54:56D means down away, and track means to pull.
00:54:59Because we've already done tracked in here this year, right?
00:55:02Um, but, uh, how does he use it in the Gettysburg Address?
00:55:05Here, this is wrong.
00:55:06Okay, the brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.
00:55:13In other words, the dead have made the land holy, and there's nothing Lincoln can do to add to what they've done, or to take away from.
00:55:21Hmm.
00:55:22Okay, I'll give you a little, I'll, I'll get you started, right here.
00:55:25Okay.
00:55:26The world will little note.
00:55:27Okay, let's make it so we can see them.
00:55:32Can I do paragraph three?
00:55:34Um, sure.
00:55:35Can we put this together, though?
00:55:37Oh, yeah.
00:55:38Okay.
00:55:39I'll put it together, and you can read it to me, okay?
00:55:41I guess.
00:55:42And then if you want to do paragraph three, you can.
00:55:44I guess.
00:55:45Alright.
00:55:46The world will little note.
00:55:47Race, can you help us?
00:55:48Can you double task there?
00:55:49The world will little note.
00:55:51Nor long remember what we say here.
00:55:53What we say here.
00:55:54Go on.
00:55:55But they can never forget what they did here.
00:55:58Okay.
00:55:59What they did here.
00:56:00Go on.
00:56:01It is for us to live and rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought
00:56:08here have thus far said nobly advanced.
00:56:11It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from
00:56:18these honored dead we take increased devotion to that of cause for which they gave the last
00:56:24full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God...
00:56:35He needs to say something because if he just holds that inside, how's he going to feel?
00:56:41If he doesn't say to us...
00:56:42Like me, which is great.
00:56:44How is he going to feel if he holds that...
00:56:49I answered your question.
00:56:51That sense of I didn't get...
00:56:52It's going to feel horrible.
00:56:53It's going to feel horrible.
00:56:54It's going to go more inward.
00:56:55It's just how I feel.
00:56:56It's going to go more inward.
00:56:57It's how you feel?
00:56:58Every day of my friggin' life.
00:56:59Because you don't let...
00:57:00You don't talk about how you feel?
00:57:01No, because everyone's ripped me apart in the past years.
00:57:04Does this help you at all in terms of thinking about...
00:57:08No.
00:57:09No.
00:57:10I can't even fight over myself anymore because I feel like if I do I'm going to get beaten or something.
00:57:15I don't know.
00:57:16You think if you stand up for yourself you're going to get beaten?
00:57:19Yeah, while other kids.
00:57:21Because they just get really pissed all the time.
00:57:24So it sounds like you need a little bit of adult help.
00:57:27I don't see that side.
00:57:28You don't see that side?
00:57:29Well, now this is the thing...
00:57:31I see every side of every aspect.
00:57:33So listen to me for one second.
00:57:35You guys are two different people, right?
00:57:37Yeah.
00:57:38Do you think you're going to see things from a different perspective?
00:57:40No.
00:57:41He sees the sides of people that are bad.
00:57:43Well, but that might be...
00:57:45But hold on just a second.
00:57:46That might be where Ian is right now.
00:57:49But what I'd like to really do is sort of...
00:57:51I'd like to stick with this.
00:57:53And the reason that I think it's really good for you to be in a class where we're talking about passive-aggressive and assertive
00:57:59is that, you know, if you're holding things inside and you don't feel safe, then sometimes you have to find a safe person to talk to.
00:58:07That could be a trusted adult.
00:58:09It could be a trusted friend.
00:58:10It could be no one...
00:58:11You might not feel safe about saying that in front of...
00:58:15You might not feel safe about being assertive in front of everybody, right?
00:58:19But it's really important to find someone that you can share those things with.
00:58:25These guys are really working on their communication style.
00:58:31They're working on how they stand up for themselves.
00:58:36As you can see sort of in this group, there's some funny disconnects.
00:58:40Really, I'm just trying to help them develop their skills so that when there's a conflict or, you know, as you see, Ian is really, really...
00:58:52He's really stressed out and has had a lot of negative experiences.
00:58:59And so the idea is to try to help him have more tools in his toolbox when there's a conflict.
00:59:05I want to share something with you guys that's really important.
00:59:08And it really helps with this topic in particular.
00:59:12It's called an I statement.
00:59:14You heard of that?
00:59:15Oh, I feel. Like an I feel statement.
00:59:17It's like an I feel statement.
00:59:18It's not worth it.
00:59:19It's, you know what, Ian?
00:59:21You just got to take a deep breath and try it and try it again and try it again because eventually it really is worth it.
00:59:26I've tried it with 3,947 times.
00:59:28Really?
00:59:29It doesn't work.
00:59:30Okay.
00:59:31I want to share it with these guys and I want to practice it with you because it's a formula.
00:59:35It's a way for you to say how you feel.
00:59:39And an I statement includes a feeling, right?
00:59:44And it includes the word I because who do your feelings belong to?
00:59:48Me.
00:59:49Okay.
00:59:50Who do your feelings belong to, Chase?
00:59:51Me.
00:59:52Ian?
00:59:53The government.
00:59:54The government.
00:59:55Okay.
00:59:56I'm going to take a reset.
00:59:58What if in his situation?
01:00:01Do not mention me while I'm gone.
01:00:02Otherwise I will get really upset.
01:00:03Alright.
01:00:04We're not mentioning him while I'm gone.
01:00:05Let's continue.
01:00:06Basically what a reset is, is when a student is misbehaving, a teacher will ask them to reset,
01:00:15which means to leave the class, to leave the learning area for a few minutes, sometimes longer.
01:00:25To just get a hold of themselves and get into a place where they can mentally focus and be a functioning member of the class.
01:00:40For me resets don't happen that often.
01:00:42I usually gauge when I'm losing control.
01:00:46Some students take more resets than others and whatever gets in the focus, that's what they need to do and everybody's different.
01:00:57Here are a lot of kids who have a backlog of a lot of anger and frequently will act out on that anger.
01:01:07One of the things you want to do is develop the capacity in the kid to recognize when he's getting upset and the reset is an opportunity to do that.
01:01:19So a kid can ask for a reset or a teacher can say, you need to take a reset.
01:01:25Keegan?
01:01:26Yeah.
01:01:27Would you please leave the classroom?
01:01:28You may not draw on the desks.
01:01:29You said it would be better job pencils.
01:01:31On the paper.
01:01:32Keegan, on paper.
01:01:34Please go out there, pull yourself together and come back.
01:01:39Okay.
01:01:40So let's try this again.
01:01:41Silent, resetting, getting ready for class to start.
01:01:46The Battle of Gettysburg raged for three days, July 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 1863, in places that would forever be remembered for the ferocity of the fighting.
01:02:07The wheat field and the peach orchard.
01:02:12Cemetery Ridge and the tomato pen.
01:02:17Devil's Den, Little Round Top, and the Valley of Death.
01:02:26The climax was Pickett's charge on the third day.
01:02:30The south's final attempt at victory.
01:02:34It failed.
01:02:39The north won.
01:02:41But the losses on both sides seemed inconceivable.
01:02:4556,000 casualties and nearly 10,000 dead.
01:02:52Still, the end of the war now seemed at hand.
01:02:57No one had any way of knowing that it would take almost two more long years of brutal fighting
01:03:03and cost hundreds of thousands more American lives before it was over.
01:03:10Is that the people's combat in the world?
01:03:11No one had people partially
01:03:24because of the typicalİs.
01:03:27And the времени.
01:03:30If you want to Boston, do you think the Davis showed you to the rest of their minds?
01:03:35You know, for many kids, just finishing, just completing it would be a goal.
01:03:52I don't know if you've seen Ned, but Ned came here sure that he was never going to be able
01:03:57to do it, and as of the last couple of days, he's seeing the end, he's seeing that he can
01:04:02actually do the whole Gettysburg, and he is so happy. He came here very kind of defeated
01:04:07in a lot of ways, just by his old school and by learning, and things were hard for him.
01:04:13So for him, well, getting the coin might be something that he wants, but I don't think
01:04:18he cares whether he wins, but just the fact that he can actually memorize it and might
01:04:23get up and do it, we don't know yet, but he's very seriously considering it.
01:04:28And finally this morning, a great way to close that morning circle for his Ned.
01:04:32Ned.
01:04:33Okay.
01:04:34Come on, Ned.
01:04:35Come on, Ned.
01:04:36Come on, Ned.
01:04:37Come on, Ned.
01:04:38Come on, Ned.
01:04:39Come on, Ned.
01:04:44Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation,
01:04:51conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
01:04:58Now we engage in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived
01:05:04and so dedicated can long endure.
01:05:08This kid, in spite of all of his emotional stuff, that baggage that he came with, he was
01:05:12able to work through it.
01:05:14And even maybe throwing his tantrums and throwing the hat or whatever he needed to
01:05:18do, that's what he needed to do to get to the place where he could feel confident.
01:05:23That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of
01:05:28the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
01:05:33Outstanding, Ned.
01:05:34Great job.
01:05:35You are qualified.
01:05:36It is one of the most powerful things in the course of the year to see you guys study
01:05:49the speech, have the courage to get up and recite it in front of people, have the courage
01:05:55to not get it right and keep going and keep trying.
01:05:59It's awesome.
01:06:00Let's think about that.
01:06:02Continue your hard work.
01:06:04Congratulations to those who have qualified already.
01:06:07And if you haven't qualified yet, keep working.
01:06:10Okay guys, have a great day today.
01:06:12Please take your chairs.
01:06:30Do you think you want to do this?
01:06:42No.
01:06:43I'm not asking if you're scared to do it.
01:06:44I know that.
01:06:45I asked a different question.
01:06:47Do you feel like it's a growth point for you?
01:06:52That it's important for you, for your growth to do it even if...
01:06:56No.
01:06:57No.
01:06:58Because I'll back off of it if it's really not a goal of yours.
01:07:02It's really not.
01:07:03But you can do this.
01:07:05Personally, I don't care whether you do it or not.
01:07:09What I care about is that you not do it because it's fearful for you.
01:07:16I just don't want to do it.
01:07:18All right guys, let's take a minute to stand up behind our chairs.
01:07:26We have a special lunchtime treat today.
01:07:30Instead of starting our meal with the grace, we are going to start with another Gettysburg
01:07:37qualifier.
01:07:38Ian is going to share the address with us.
01:07:41So please take a moment.
01:07:43Get yourself settled.
01:07:45Let's be respectful to Ian.
01:07:47Ian, when you're at...
01:07:50Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth in this continent a new nation.
01:07:57When you're angry, it's never good.
01:08:00But when you have grit and perseverance, you can get through stuff a lot more.
01:08:04Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation...
01:08:08This year I'm reciting the Gettysburg and that's huge for me.
01:08:12It just tells people, I'm not stupid.
01:08:16I'm not dumb.
01:08:18I'm not, like, worthless.
01:08:21For those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.
01:08:25Every kid that has been bullied excessively, their life is a battlefield.
01:08:30And every time you're shot down, you try to get right back up.
01:08:35But then they just keep shooting you and shooting you.
01:08:37When you're down for the count, either a devil cries and you're done, or the angels sing.
01:08:45They lift you up.
01:08:46They heal you.
01:08:47I'd rather be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
01:08:54I want to go out there.
01:08:55I want to nail it.
01:08:56I want to get off.
01:08:57I want to shake Stuart's hand and I want to get that coin.
01:09:00It's the turn of a new beginning when that coin hits my hand.
01:09:10Four and a half months after the battle, Abraham Lincoln went to Gettysburg to dedicate the cemetery to the Union dead.
01:09:19He was not the featured speaker.
01:09:22That task fell to the noted orator Edward Everett, whose speech lasted almost two hours.
01:09:30Then Lincoln rose.
01:09:32A local photographer took his time focusing.
01:09:35Presumably the president could be counted on to go on for a while.
01:09:42By the time he took the picture, Lincoln was back in his seat.
01:09:49A Chicago paper dismissed the speech as the silly, flat, dishwatery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the president of the United States.
01:10:04But the words would endure.
01:10:08As if they were medicine.
01:10:19I can complain.
01:10:26Today is Gettysburg Day.
01:10:29I'm excited and a little bit nervous.
01:10:32But I'm more excited and nervous.
01:10:34You need to tie your tie?
01:10:36I'm gonna wake everyone up first.
01:10:37You got yours tied.
01:10:38I'm not really that nervous about it.
01:10:44I mean, I'm sort of nervous, but I can't be...
01:10:47I don't know really what the expression is, but I'm not, like, scared out of my wits about it.
01:10:54The speech is only two minutes long, and I know it tops the bottom inside out.
01:10:59It shouldn't really be a problem for me.
01:11:08Okay, Cooper, out of bed. Let's go.
01:11:22So today is the day.
01:11:23We've been building up to this for, really, since you guys came back from Thanksgiving, right?
01:11:31And I'm sure there were days, maybe not even that long ago, where you were frustrated with it and didn't think you could do it,
01:11:37but you kept pushing forward, and that's great.
01:11:40And, guys, for you, while we're all here together, too, when you're up there, if you make a mistake, right, which might happen,
01:11:48Annie's right there.
01:11:49She can give you a cue, and because she's really close to you, she can probably give you a cue that nobody else is really going to hear except you, right?
01:12:00It'll be subtle. It'll be quiet.
01:12:03You will remember this day, okay?
01:12:05You'll remember how you feel right now, maybe a little nervous, maybe really confident in preparation for tonight.
01:12:14So sit up for a second.
01:12:16Let's sit up straight.
01:12:17Let's soak it in.
01:12:18Let's take a moment and just recognize how we're feeling, get centered, get ready to launch into this really special day today,
01:12:26and feel really proud of what you've accomplished.
01:12:30Let's go.
01:12:44Let's go.
01:12:45Let's go.
01:12:46Let's go.
01:13:16Let's go.
01:13:17Let's go.
01:13:33Four score and seven years ago.
01:14:00Four score and seven years ago.
01:14:03Four score and seven years ago.
01:14:06Our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation.
01:14:09A new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated the proposition that all men.
01:14:14That all men are created equal.
01:14:18Thirty-four of the boys at Greenwood were decided that night, but not all performed
01:14:23the address.
01:14:24A handful of students, some of whom presented the year before, chose alternative speeches.
01:14:31I'm sorry.
01:14:33I don't want to be an emperor.
01:14:35That is not my business.
01:14:36I don't want to rule or conquer anyone.
01:14:38I should like to help everyone if possible.
01:14:41Jew, gentile, black, white.
01:14:43We all want to help one another.
01:14:45Human beings are like that.
01:14:46We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery.
01:14:49Fellow citizens, pardon me.
01:14:51Allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today?
01:14:57What have I or those I represent to do with your national independence?
01:15:02Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice embodied in the Declaration
01:15:08of Independence extended to us?
01:15:10We shall fight in France.
01:15:12We shall fight in the seas and oceans.
01:15:15We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air.
01:15:19We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
01:15:22We shall fight on the beaches.
01:15:23We shall fight in the landing grounds.
01:15:25We shall fight in the fields and in the streets.
01:15:28We shall fight in the hills.
01:15:30We shall never surrender.
01:15:35Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived
01:15:43and so dedicated can long endure.
01:15:46We are met on a great battlefield of that war.
01:15:50We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who
01:15:54here gave their lives that that nation might live.
01:15:58It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
01:16:02But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.
01:16:07The brave men, living and dead who have struggled here, have consecrated far above all propelled
01:16:13out of the tract.
01:16:14The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what
01:16:21they did here.
01:16:22It is for us, the living rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought
01:16:28here have thus far so nobly advanced.
01:16:30It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task we made before us.
01:16:36That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave
01:16:41the last full measure of devotion.
01:16:43That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.
01:16:47That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the
01:16:53people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
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