James Earl Carter, Jr. was our country's 39th President. Many people my age remember when he was president. We remember a fuel crisis where gas went up to almost $1.00 a gallon, American hostages being taken and held in Iraq, Three Mile Island, the $200 Sony Walkman (which played cassette tapes), Bungee jumping beginning, peanut farming, Trivial Pursuit, The first Alien movie, Mork and Mindy, and Amy Carter living in the White House(some of us were very jealous). President Carter was the leader of our country in a tumultuous time in our nation's history. During his tenure as president he encountered the disaster of Three Mile Island, Iraqi Hostage Crisis, stagflation and the gas/energy crisis. President Carter a supporter of negotiation not violence aided in the Camp David Accords, SALT, and The Panama Canal Treaties. As long supporters of human rights, President and Mrs. Carter opened the Carter Center to aid in bolstering human rights across the planet. President and Mrs. Carter still volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.
I could go on and on; only President to receive the Nobel Peace Prize after leaving office, a Naval Officer, a two term Georgia State Senator, a peanut farmer, a family man, a proponent of civil rights, created the law making life in prison a substitute for the no longer available death penalty in Georgia, writer, public speaker, and negotiator.
President Carter has been involved in great acts for many decades, so why am I blogging about him today? I am blogging about him today because even at almost 86 years old he flew to North Korea this week and negotiated the release of American School teacher, Aijalon Gomes. Mr. Gomes was sentenced to 8 years hard labor for crossing the border from China to North Korea and committing a "hostile act". Not only did President Carter bring Mr. Gomes home to the United States on Friday, August 27, 2010 he discussed North Korea's nuclear program with Kim Yong Nam. This is a man I feel we can and should all learn from. Long story short, after talking with my students and researching President Carter I felt compelled to invite him to speak to my students. My theory is if you want to change what is wrong in the world start with the children. My students may not be young children, but they are young and they are or will be having children. Violence does not have to be the answer to every conflict
See my letter to President Carter below:
August 27, 2010
President James E. Carter
Carter Foundation
453Freedom Parkway NE
Atlanta, GA 30307
Dear President Carter:
I would like to invite you to speak to my students at Crittenton Services in Wheeling, West Virginia. Crittenton Services is a gender specific treatment facility, and our students range in age from 13-18. Many of our girls have experienced great turmoil in their lives and have suffered many hardships. We try to help them get emotionally healthy, educate them, prepare them for adulthood and all of its responsibilities, and give them skills to handle anything that may come their way. I want to instill upon them violence is not the answer to their problems, and I could think of no person better than you to discuss this with them.
We participate in Globaloria, a five year pilot program focused on teaching 21st century skills utilizing wikis, blogs, and Adobe Flash programming. Our focus in this pilot is civics. Today, the students read the article about you securing the pardon for Aijalon Gomes and bringing him home from North Korea. They then researched you and blogged about your missions of peace.
Please let me know if you are ever available to speak to our girls any time in the future. You can contact me at 304-242-7525 or mmilliken@crittentonservices.com. If you would like to know more about our organization, please visit our Web site at http://www.florencecrittenton.net/.
Sincerely,
Melonie Milliken
GED Instructor
