Listening to Mr Khan


I had the good fortune to attend the National Council of Social Studies conference in Chicago courtesy of National Geographic. I helped staff the booth in the exhibit hall talking about the Educator Certification program and I gave a lightning talk at an Educator Happy Hour.

One of the keynote speakers at NCSS was Khizr Khan. You can tell he is of a different generation because he does not have a social media presence as far as I can tell. Mr Khan (I cannot imagine referring to him as Khizr even here in my blog) is a lawyer, Muslim and Gold Star father who came to national prominence giving a pointed speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention about the dark dark tone taken on by the then Republican candidate about immigrants. 

We educators gave Mr Khan a standing ovation even before he spoke. The applause was long and fervent. After he spoke, the ovation was longer and louder. More than one of us was crying, moved by his words and his call to be candle bearers of freedom, education, and equality.

My exploration is focused on, using the Nat Geo Learning Framework, the Changing Planet as well as Wildlife and Wild Places. But the Human Journey is important to me, too. Mr Khan has a compelling, critical message for the current Human Journey. I was thrilled to hear it in person.

This is one of my top moments of 2018.

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