AT THE VALLEY WHERE THE U.S. WAS FORGED.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

It's all there in the textbooks that teacher Dave Thomson has used for his American history class at Burbank High School the last 20 years.

All the words about our Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights - the underpinnings of this country.

And, in two decades of teaching, Thomson has never seen the story of America reach out and grab his students as it did last week, when the words in their textbooks came alive.

When they visited Valley Forge, Pa., where it all began, then went to Philadelphia to see the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights - live, not in a book.

And, finally, on to Washington, D.C., to see government in action, and how this country has evolved.

Deysy Ordoez, born in Mexico; Soo Ho Park, born in South Korea; Cyril Rosal, born in the Philippines; and so many other first-generation immigrant children who make up almost half of Thomson's history class, say they now understand what America is all about.

``Now I can truly appreciate all the debate and headaches the Founding Fathers had to go through, and the sacrifice so many soldiers gave to make America great and so different from other countries,'' Deysy said.

``I'm so much more appreciative now for what my parents did in bringing me here. Someday, I'm going to take my mother and brother to Valley Forge, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., so they can see for themselves.''

Soo Ho, who came to this country when he was 6, agreed. ``Visiting the real places makes you appreciate government a lot more, especially at Valley Forge. It was awesome.''

Awesome and eye opening, said his friend, Samuel Ra, the first child in his South Korean family born on American soil.

``It just expanded my sense of nationalism,'' the 16-year-old boy said. ``We had all experienced history out of a textbook, but this trip made us realize exactly how much our forefathers really went through.''

For a history teacher with a United Nations classroom of students, there is no greater feeling of accomplishment than to hear those words, Thomson said.

``It was wonderful watching their eyes grow wide as they walked through Valley Forge, where the country literally started, then seeing the U.S. Constitution right in front of them, and finally on to Washington, D.C., to see the action of government today.

``It was the best teaching experience I've ever had, and the most valuable for my students because they got to see history firsthand, not as an abstract.''

The trip was sponsored and paid for by the Los Angeles Chapter of Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that then-Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower launched in 1949 in a barn on a colonial farm once occupied by George Washington's troops.

There are no hidden political agendas, said Carole Silva of Encino, a foundation member who organizes the annual trip at a different high school every year. In the last four years, students from Grant, Glendale and Polytech high schools have gone.

``We're trying to give them the U.S. history not being taught enough in the classroom,'' she said. ``They're learning more about Marilyn Monroe than George Washington.

``These kids are tomorrow's leaders. They have to know more about their country's history to lead us into the future.''

Thomson said no one on the trip waved a flag in the faces of these kids or pushed any political orientation.

``The foundation's trying to show high school kids that it's important to understand they're living in a country where participation is essential, whether you're conservative or liberal, that it's all about individual rights.''

His students didn't really understand that before, but they do now, the teacher said.

Dennis McCarthy, [phone]

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Visiting the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on a high school trip, are Christina Fahad, left, Jessica Keith, Dave Thomson and Deysy Ordonez.

Soo Ho Park/Daily News