Week 6

This week saw the plans to go to Dr. Gannon's lecture on Oral history come to fruition. The lecture, given on the 16th of February, was titled "How to Conduct an Oral History". While initially being worried it would predominantly focus on the veterans aspect of Oral history due to Gannon's work in that field, it was a great overview of the process of giving an interview. In attendance was a diverse group of people, including my former Spanish teacher Profesora Nalbone, who is planning to interview Pulse victims.

The lecture itself reinforced why Oral History is so important, giving a voice to those who, in Gannon's words, "didn't matter fifty years ago". The lecture also put an emphasis on the pre-interview, saying the preparation determines the quality of the following interview. Another key was how one acted during the interview, stressing not to interrupt the interviewee and also to allow them to weave the narrative. Another tactic to avoid is answering question simply ending yes or no responses, or questions with a clear bias (e.g. if talking to someone from Sanford "Wasn't living in a small town awful"). Also, the concept of active listening was touched upon, as an interviewer is tasked with coming up with follow-up questions on the fly if need be

Today, Friday the 17th, saw another trip to the library finding and citing additional Sentinel sources. The Clinton visit in early September of 1998 was a momentous occasion in Hillcrest history, seeing the recently scandalized president visit to push his domestic education reform. Clinton spoke about reducing class sizes and making schools safer. And he will call on Congress to build or renovate 5,000 schools beset by crowding and dilapidated conditions. The $5 billion federal tax-credit program would allow $22 billion in bonds to go toward school construction.

An article recounting the possibility of a Hillcrest merger says the following: School leaders estimate the move would save at least $7.5 million in operating costs and about $90 million in capital dollars. More money could be saved, they estimated, if the district decided later to sell the properties where the shuttered campuses remain. "We have no choice," said School Board member Christine Moore at Tuesday's meeting before the vote.The schools are Hillcrest, Kaley, Grand Avenue, Richmond Heights, Maxey and Pine Castle. Hillcrest's foreign-language program would be folded into Howard Middle, which would be converted into a K-8 school. This can be paired with the “Save Howard from Hillcrest Merger” but from a Hillcrest perspective.