Two American Revolutions

The new year brings the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the beginning of a successful political revolt against British rule. There was also a socio-economic revolution aiming to change the status of persons, change the economy including the ownership of land, and alter the role of organized religions. This revolution was only partially successful and will be the subject of a future column.

The political revolt and the war that made it succeed is well known to those who remember their U.S. history classes. In early 1776, the Continental Congress created a Continental Army and appointed George Washington commander in chief. In March, the army drove the British out of Boston, and in June, the Congress authorized Thomas Jefferson, advised by Ben Franklin and others, to write what became the Declaration of Independence. Congress deleted Jefferson’s condemnation of slavery and made a few minor changes then adopted the Declaration on July 4. It was printed and distributed in the 13 former colonies—now states—with a copy to King George III. 

The war dragged on until 1781 with each side having victories and defeats. The British chased Washington out of New York City and New Jersey in late 1776, but on Christmas night, Washington led his forces across the Delaware River and, in a surprise attack, took Trenton, N.J., killing or capturing its entire garrison. The victory encouraged patriots to join Washington’s army. (Pictured is the river crossing as depicted in Emanuel Leutze’s 1851 oil-on-canvas painting now in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Born in Germany, Leutze grew up in the U.S. then returned to Germany. He made two huge copies of the painting—12.4 feet by 21.2 feet—to inspire liberal reformers in Germany. The first was destroyed in a Bremen museum by Allied bombing during World War II.) 

In 1777, the patriots defeated and captured an entire British army at Saratoga, New York, which encouraged France to support the U.S. cause against France’s traditional enemy. A French fleet sailed to North America, and the Spanish, Dutch, and Swedes backed the U.S. The British, having no allies, found it necessary to defend their more profitable colonies in the Caribbean, India, and the Pacific. The American Revolution became a sideshow in the first global war.

In 1781, Washington trapped a British army in Yorktown, Virginia, and a British fleet sent to rescue them was defeated by the French navy in Chesapeake Bay. General Cornwallis surrendered to Washington, and Britain turned its attention elsewhere. Two years later, the Treaty of Paris ceded to the United States the land north of Florida, south of Canada, and west to the Mississippi.

And what of Native Americans whose land it had long been? Most tribes foresaw that a newly independent nation would inevitably grow westward taking their land, so they sided with the British or tried to remain neutral. Joseph Brant, of the powerful Mohawk tribe, led 400 warriors and white Loyalists on a rampage through Pennsylvania and central New York killing settlers and burning homes and crops. Washington sent to the area an army that destroyed at least 40 evacuated Iroquois villages. White settlers promptly took the land.

After the war, Washington left public service and returned to his land at Mt. Vernon, Virginia, on the Potomac River. Not a great tactical general but a superb leader of men, Washington’s honesty, hard work, and courage made him a national hero. When the Constitution created a presidency in 1789, he was the obvious choice.

For us, an obvious choice is to watch the lively new Ken Burns, Sarah Botsein, and David Schmidt six-part PBS documentary “The American Revolution” which aired on KCPT-19 in December and will repeat on January 9, 10, and 11. PBS members can stream it on PBS Passport. It’s also available as a book. 

 

                      Teacher Wins National Award

Turner Elementary School teacher Lexcee Oddo thought December 4th would be a normal day at school. It turned out to be a day she will never forget.

That afternoon, she took her class to an assembly in the gym where more than 700 students and faculty found themselves facing a group of dignitaries including their principal, the Turner District superintendent, and Kansas Commissioner of Education Dr. Randy Watson. After a few remarks, the commissioner said everyone was about to hear a surprise announcement and introduced Jennifer Fuller, Vice-President, Milken Educator Awards, who explained that only one Kansas educator wins the award each year and that the award includes a check. She had some fun with students multiplying $25 x 10, then by 10 again, and 10 again to $25,000. That is serious money, and excited students saw Fuller open an envelope and say, “The Milken Educator Award for Kansas goes to … Lexee Oddo.” The gym erupted in applause as Ms. Oddo accepted an oversize replica check. She and a guest will go to Washington, D.C., next June where she will receive the real check during a Milken Educator Forum with all the 2025-26 state award winners and attend panels, round tables, and networking activities.

Drawn to a teaching career by her older sister who teaches in Blue Valley and by an influential sixth-grade teacher in Olathe, Oddo is a graduate of Olathe South High School with a B.S. from Kansas State and an M.S in educational administration from Emporia State. She taught second grade at Turner Elementary for six years before teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to 150 students this year. She will be summer school principal in 2026. 

Oddo attributes her success to having high expectations for her students, to her knack for motivating them to adopt those expectations, and to creative and effective lessons. She says she knows her ESL students are succeeding when their reading confidence improves. She fortifies her classroom skills through continuing study of the science of reading and expands her broader professional growth by attending an ongoing leadership academy. 

The Milken Awards, which have been called the Nobel Prize of education, were created by Lowell Milken in 1987 to give “outstanding educators the recognition they deserve for their important work—ensuring a bright future for every student.” More than 3000 exemplary teachers, principals, and specialists have become Milken Educators, usually in early- or mid-career for what they have accomplished and for what they can contribute in the future. Honorees join the national Milken Educator Network, a valuable resource to those shaping the future of education.

A Milken Award is a surprise. There is no way to apply; candidates are identified by state departments of education using a variety of sources and are not aware they are being considered. Invited guests don’t even learn the name of the school until two days before the ceremony and are cautioned to not mention “Milken” when they arrive in order to keep the surprise alive.

Attending the Turner Elementary ceremony were a dozen past Milken Award winners including a former principal of the school when it had been Pierson Jr. High 30 years ago and a Pierson student at the time who won the award while teaching at Sumner Academy in KCK. A former Pierson science teacher became a Milken Educator while principal at Baldwin High School, making Otto the fourth Milken Educator with ties to the same Turner school, a notable record in a state with more than 40,000 teachers and principals.

The Milken Family Foundation Educator Awards serve to inspire both current and future quality educators, and more information is online at mff.org. Their motto is, “The future belongs to the educated.” Teachers like Lexcee Oddo are building that future every day.