Third graders in Ken Sider’s class at Valleyview Elementary School in Oneonta learned a valuable lesson about political action and students across the United States will benefit from their campaign. Last October, they were upset when they realized that their Math in Focus workbook, a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt product marketed under the corporate name Marshall Cavendish, reinforced myths about Christopher Columbus. According to the workbook, “Columbus landed in America in 1492.” The kids felt the reference was not completely accurate because Columbus never reached the North American mainland and did not believe he had arrived in a new hemisphere at all.
They wrote to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt numerous times and after not getting a response to their complaint they launched a petition campaign on Change.org that garnered 1,285 signatures. The student activists also secured support from a number of educational professionals and historians. This time Houghton Mifflin Harcourt listened.
On April 2, Ken Sider’s third grade class received a letter from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. A company representative wrote: “In future editions of our program, the language will be adjusted for clarity to read: “Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean in the year 1492.”
On his first voyage in 1492, Columbus and his fleet reached what is now known as the Caribbean Sea and landed on a number of the islands. On his third voyage in 1498 Columbus’ fleet made landfall on the northern coast of what is now South America. On his final voyage in 1502, Columbus explored the Caribbean coast of Central America. Columbus thought he had found a water route from Europe to Asia and never believed he had “discovered” a new hemisphere. The “New World” continents are named after Amerigo Vespucci, another Italian explorer, who convincingly argued that Columbus had reached a whole new continent. An excellent response to Columbus myths for teachers and students is Rethinking Columbus, published by Rethinking Schools.
Ken Sider is very proud of his class. “The longer the company ignored them, the more determined they were to be heard. They approached this problem with respect for knowledge and even consulted historians along the way.” Speaking for students in the class, third-grader Bruce Lin reports, “It took a very long time and a lot of work to do this project. I’m happy because they answered and because they are going to change the mistake soon.”
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