A.E. Wright students learn about the lives of their grandparents
By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

MEMORIES OF THE PAST--A.E Wright sixth-grader Eric Weil, second from left, shows off a research project he completed in honor of his grandparents, Kathleen and Charles Tompkins. Teacher Brett Godwin on the right organizes a Grandparents' Day each year at the middle school in Calabasas.

The things we never knew about our grandparents.

Brian Blaker, a student at A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas, found out his grandfather, 78-year-old Edward George Blaker, survived a killer typhoon in the Philippines during World War II that sank three U.S. Navy destroyers.

Researching her grandparents’ past, Andrea Weisz discovered her grandfather, Ludwig Schorr, was a young Jew in Vienna, Austria, who escaped the Nazis and built a new life in the United States.

Each year, A.E. Wright teacher Brett Godwin asks his sixth and eighth-grade students to prepare a research project about their grandparents. In addition, the school recently hosted its fifth annual Grandparents Day celebration when projects are displayed and food and entertainment are offered.

More than 100 students attended the event, along with, of course, their parents and grandparents.

Godwin said the exercise in genealogy helps students appreciate the importance of having an extended family.

"It’s about telling stories and keeping history alive," Godwin said. "It’s a bridge and we don’t want it to get lost."

Students are asked to prepare their report in magazine form that includes a biography, timeline and photographs.

"Grannie Remembers" was the name of sixth-grader Leila Bick’s magazine about her 68-year-old grandmother, Carole Ruge.

"It tells a lot about when my grandmother was little," said the young girl.

Godwin, a language arts and social science teacher, said the idea about teaching kids respect for their grandparents began about 10 years ago when he took some of his students to mingle with elderly residents of a retirement home in Woodland Hills.

"I just felt like I wanted to incorporate something like that at the school," Godwin said.

When sixth-grader Eric Weil prepared his report he learned that his 71-year-old grandfather, Charles Tompkins, helped keep New York City safe from enemy attack.

"He was an air raid spotter and he looked out at night to see if there any airplanes from other countries that were flying over," said the grandson.

"It was really a fun project because I got to learn a lot about my grandfather."

Tompkins said he enjoyed reliving the past.

"When he started asking questions about my life, it’s funny what you recall," Tompkins said. "There was World War II, and of course, the atomic bomb along the way."

Other students learned about what it was like with the advent of radio and television, and how their grandparents feared diseases such as polio.

Kathleen Tompkins said thanks to her grandson’s effort, the generation gap in the family just narrowed.

"This has been a great project," she said. "It’s been a great way for us to bond."