Sustaining Local History for San Diego
Oral History Project: Students interview longtime San Diego residents who can speak to some of the changes the city has seen over the years. In the process, they learn about the person’s history and their story. The oral history projects include a short video and are presented at the San Diego History Center. Students learn how to write compelling questions, conduct an interview, research, record and edit video, write and give a short speech.
Civic-Minded Approach
La Jolla Country Day School has a partnership with the
City Club of San Diego to give students access to speakers including Mayor of San Diego Kevin Faulconer, Congresswoman Susan Davis, Former Governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis and Dr. Harlan Ullman of the Atlantic Council.
Global Exchange
U.S. History students
blog with international students also studying U.S. History from
TASIS Lugano . Students lead monthly discussions on the blog providing perspectives, insights and ideas that connect current events to issues from a specific period in American history. Students are given international perspective on American politics and its history.
Relevance, Fun and Competition
Students in economics class participate in the
National Stock Market Game competition. In groups of four to five, students received $100,000 to invest with rules similar to real stock trading. They compete against teams around the country in several contests and prepare in class presentations explaining their investment strategies. Students are introduced to a variety of investment vehicles and strategies. They follow the impact of economic and political developments on the market and assess their risk tolerance.
The U.S. History class uses tournament brackets to set up questions such as who is the most courageous American of all time?; Which woman should appear on the redesigned $10 bill?; Who is the greatest American president of all time?; Which non-presidential historical figure is the most important in U.S. history?
Students in AP Euro produce music videos from conception to completion to tell the tales of the Age of Religious Wars in Europe. Inspired by this project, AP European created a
video to teach classmates about bread marches during the French Revolution.
Cross-Divisional Projects
Mission 22 Project: After studying the 21 California missions, teams of fourth grade students design and propose the building of the 22nd mission to a “Spanish Royal Court” made up of the AP World History students, who in turn, challenge the fourth graders with questions about the mission blueprints and access to resources. A successful proposal earns the royal court’s “Seal of Approval” for a thumbs-up on future construction.
California Legislature Simulation: In a four-day collaboration, the AP Government class serves as the presiding officers of a California State Assembly and Senate legislators (made up of fourth graders). Together, they write bills for hearings in committee, debates on the house floor and votes on passage. This project directly precedes the fourth-grade trip to Sacramento where the students visit the state capitol building.
Mock Trial
Now in its sixth season, Torrey Mock Trial has become one of the premiere mock trial programs of San Diego, finishing second in the county championship in 2015 in one of the closest matches on record. Provided with nothing but witness statements and the facts of the case, the team takes on the role of attorneys and witnesses to prepare a series of arguments and convincing acting performances to either convict or acquit the defendant.