Quote Originally Posted by Alan H View Post
A curriculum of California State History is essentially non-existent in California high schools. See, it's not on the State Exit Exams, so teachers are thoroughly discouraged from teaching it. I could rant on that, but will refrain. Suffice it to say that there's not a single kid in California that has to drive more than 75 miles to find SOMETHING fascinating from the 250 years (only 250 years!) of recorded human history in California, and yet I bet that the overwhelming majority have never been to a Mission, or a Gold Rush town, or Fort Ross.
I know! As I stated above, when I started public school as a high school freshman, I was astounded and shocked by my peers wilful ignorance of anything that was beyond what they needed to do to pass the classes. It's a real shame.

My parents and grandparents, in their great wisdom, took me and my brother and sister to museums and the missions and would take us to all sorts of neat places (the Stanford Theatre was always a favourite of mine before we moved to So. Cal. - I remember watching a series of Alfred Hitchcock films there - *sigh* those were the days). They'd also take us to the library, where I would spend hours (and still do!).