NH Serving Three Cups of Tea: Hope and Redemption in the 21st Century

March 30, 2009

Hope and Redemption in the 21st Century

The following is a curriculum unit created by Kathy Loring of Moultonborough Academy.

Grade and Course Level: Juniors (AP Language and Composition)

Using a variety of texts and media, students will explore the answers to the following essential questions:

What responsibility does an individual have to society?
What influence does culture have on our relationships with each other?
How do I resolve my responsibility to the world?
How do I determine when social action is appropriate?

The main objective of this is for students to gain an understanding that the differences between humans are really quite insignificant. Compassion and cooperation are more important than our differences. Ultimately, students will write a synthesis essay utilizing information from the various texts/films to support their response to the essential questions.

Resources:

The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama (excerpts)

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

Baracka (1992) by Ron Fricke

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With gratitude...

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”
A. Schweitzer

On behalf of the NH educators involved in this amazing project, not only do I want to thank Paige, Michael and Victor Oristano, but also Connie Appel, Trustee of the Cricenti Foundation and Owner of the Morgan Hill Bookstore. It is Connie who first shared her idea with Paige that every high school student should read this book. From that thought, a flame has been lit, and we are grateful to be given this opportunity to share Greg Mortenson's message with the students of New Hampshire.

A message of gratitude from Paige Oristano and Connie Appel~

We'd like to express our appreciation to NH educators for your enthusiastic and creative use of Three Cups of Tea in your classrooms to date. We have so enjoyed watching you move forward with this project in such innovative ways, that we were encouraged to begin another, smaller project in Palm Beach County, FL... using our NH experience as a template. Early this month we were able to kick off the Palm Beach County program, which over 25 high schools. We have been delighted to see that educators in Florida have embraced the message of Three Cups of Tea with the same type of commitment we have seen in NH, and they have incorporated some of your ideas and planning into their program. For this reason, we look forward to seeing the same level of excitement and acheivement among FL teachers and students as they progress with our new project. And again, we express our gratitude to NH for serving as a such a wonderful model for bringing Mortenson's message to a wider audience.
Paige Oristano and Connie Appel

Participating New Hampshire Schools

Belmont High School
Chester Academy
Colebrook Schools
Dover High School
Exeter High School
Franklin High School
Gilford High School
Gorham High School
Hillsboro-Deering High School
Hopkinton High School
Kearsarge Regional High School
Kennett High School
Kingswood Regional High School
Laconia High School
Lincoln-Woodstock High School
Lisbon High School
Littleton High School
Merrimack Valley High School
Milford High School
Moutonborough Academy
Newfound High School
Pembroke Academy
Plymouth Regional High School
Profile High School
Raymond High School
Sanborn Regional High School
Sandwich Central School
Souhegan High School
Stevens High School
White Mountains Regional High School
Windham High School
Winnacunnet High School
Winnisquam Regional High School
Woodsville High School