TAA is collecting food for Operation Brotherhood, a ministry of Skilton House Ministries that distributes Thanksgiving food to the needy.  In 2008, nearly 2000 families received a Thanksgiving bag in the name of Jesus, along with a copy of the gospel of John.  This year, for those who wish to donate through TAA, Wednesday November 18th is the last day for collecting these goods:  l lb. can of peas, 1 lb. can of corn, l lb. can of green beans, l lb. can of cranberry sauce or fruit, 1 box of stuffing, or 1 lb. can of yams.   Special thanks to TAA senior Noelle Ludlum for coordinating our participation.  Visit the Operation Brotherhood web site for more information.

Students in grades 5 through 8 are now working on the Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest, which requires research and a bibliography.  The topic is the building of the Transcontinental Railroad; students are asked to “[d]escribe how you felt on May 10, 1869 when the golden spike was driven at Promontory Summit, Utah, to celebrate the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad.  Pretend you are either a settler planning to use the train to travel to your new home in the West, an Irish or Chinese worker who helped build the line or a Native American whose way of life was greatly affected by the railroad.”  Go TAA scholars!

Monday afternoon 11/16 from 4-5 PM our students in grades 7+ will have a special FPRI opportunity that was just added to the FPRI schedule.  The subject is “Munich 1938: New Revelations from the Czech Archives,” relative to the famous Munich Agreement which permitted Hitler’s takeover of the Sudetenland portion of Czechoslovakia prior to WW II.

The speaker, Milan Hauner, is an associate scholar of FPRI who grew up in Prague and has earned two PhDs at prestigious European universities and who taught at other important institutions.  Hauner has written and co-edited ten books and many scholarly articles and has most recently edited several unpublished manuscripts of the former Czechoslovak president Edvard Benes, as well as reconstructing 3 volumes of this leader’s wartime memoirs.

The lecture will be held at the FPRI library/offices at 1528 Walnut, a smaller venue around the corner from the Union League.  TAA students who are interested in attending should notify Mrs. Anthony; we will need to make reservations.