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2009-10_Report-Education Committee  Submitted by Webmaster on   3/7/2011 Last Modified 2010 Education Committee Report The Education Committee of the CFA has been a part of the organization for over 20 years. It was founded during the tenure of national president Dow Nida. It's intent was to provide resources to help teachers produce units on the circus. The fact that donations made to the National Circus Preservation Society are tax deductible is based on the educational aspect that the Education Committee provides. In its early years it provided resource materials including free video loans to classrooms across the United States. It was not unusual to service a dozen or so schools every year. However in recent years the requests for circus materials has diminished considerably. The culprit in the diminishing interest in the circus started with the so called "No Child Left Behind" movement. This movement requires the testing of students in the major subjects. Since test results often are tied to future educational funding little time can be given to the special units that teachers often used to teach units like the circus. Any spare time is now given over to practicing for the tests. I have talked to many teachers and always get the same response-"We don't have time anymore to do fun units". In my own city a unit on local history has gone by the boards as teachers find that they have no time for this unit. This year the Education Committee received a couple of requests for photos and circus posters, but these were used in kindergarten classes or summer programs which are not bound by the testing program. We did have one middle school student who did a major project on the circus and we provided posters, videos and connections with the Ringling show. The monographs provided by Joe Rogers several years ago and which are online do get some hits, especially the one on clowns. As of this report, I can see no great improvement that will come for requests for circus materials from schools. High stakes testing is here to stay for the immediate future. There is a group out there that may provide an outlet for our circus materials. That group is our seniors. Many of the older citizens remember the heyday of the circus . There are senior centers in every city and town of the U.S. as well as many nursing homes. This is an area that we might expand into. Perhaps we might be able to get our CFA members to offer a talk on the circus in either a senior center or a nursing home. I have given several talks myself to women's clubs, Granges, and business clubs. This is an area that the Education Committee should explore in the future. Any ideas that you have are most welcome and should be forwarded to the chair of the Education Committee. Respectfully submitted Robert Kitchen, Chair CFA Education Committee Email This Resource   Copyright © 1999-2015 Circus Fans Association of America and Authors. For more information view our  Copyright Policy & Privacy Policy .

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