Historical Perspective: The 1950’s

At Grace Valley Christian Academy traditional classroom instruction is bolstered with guest lectures to enrich the learning experience our students receive through real world applications. Grace Valley’s eighth grade history covers post-World War II world history; and the uniqueness of studying this time period in history gives students the distinct opportunity to talk to people who actually lived through that time. Mr. Perry, the eighth grade history teacher, developed the “Perspectives” series, where the class invites people who have lived through the decade of history they just finished studying, to speak about their experiences.

“For our Perspectives series about the 1950’s, we brought in Mr. Ken Jackura, who was the age of these eighth graders, when America was in the middle of the Korean War, and the Red Scare was in full swing,” said Mr. Perry, adding, “His history is compelling, especially since his grandparents immigrated to America from Poland, giving his family a keen interest in the news about the spread of Communism throughout Eastern Europe.”

Eighth grader, Ethan Feil, shares his perspective on Mr. Jackura’s talk on the 1950’s:

Our class recently finished studying the 1950’s, where we learned about the origins of the Cold War, China’s becoming Communist, the Red Scare, and the Korean War. And as part of our Perspectives series, Mr. Perry invited our first guest speaker, Mr. Ken Jackura, who is a retired civil engineer, to come and speak to the eighth and ninth grade class about his experience during the Cold War in the 1950’s. He spoke a lot about his experiences as a child growing up during World War II, especially since he had five uncles who fought in the war. He then described the atmosphere of the time of the Red Scare, and other historical events of the 1950’s.

It was really interesting to see and hear from someone who was really there, not just from a textbook or a documentary. It made history come alive. What really struck me was that at our age, 13 and 14 year olds, they were up-to-date on all the current events and what was going on because it wasn’t about some faraway land, but pertained to them because a nuclear war was a present threat.

Mr. Jackura also brought in some cool artifacts, such as a sword from a Japanese soldier in World War II, and some forks that were actually used by the German SS. I am grateful for the opportunity to hear from a person who lived through the 1950’s.