Mr. Harrold's Bulletin - November 10th, 2008

Quotation for the Week

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

- Lawrence Binyon

Dear Parents,

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae

On May 3rd 1915, Lt. Colonel John McCrae, a doctor attached to a Canadian artillery unit, was moved by the death of his friend Alexis Helmer, to write the verse above, which swiftly became the most famous poem to emerge from the First World War.

The image of the poppy to represent both the blood of the dying and the hope of new life was seized upon by a public eager to pay some kind of visible respect to those who had fought and died to gain the freedoms they enjoyed. The poppy, reinvented in cloth or paper, became - and remains, the most poignant symbol of our remembrance each November. It is why you will see British and Canadian teachers wearing poppies in their lapels this week, and why you will see people of those countries on your television screens doing the same this week.

Yesterday, in memorial services to mark Veterans' Sunday across the United States, George W. Bush's proclamation was read out. He designated that November 11th be marked as a public holiday. November 11th was, of course, the day in 1918 when the Great War finally ended - at the eleventh hour. Ninety years to the day after that momentous event, leaders of all allied countries around the world remind their citizens to pay their respects by means of a two-minute silence at 11 AM. We remember the Fallen of all conflicts these days - sadly the Great War was not actually "the war to end all wars" that the naive politicians at the time imagined it might be.

This week, you will be reading the report card that shows your child's progress. Most of you will also be coming on to attend parent conferences on Wednesday. We hope there are no surprises in the report card as we try hard to keep you informed on progress throughout the year. However, should you require clarification on anything, please feel free to contact us and we will try to satisfy you.

The students will have a great week. I hope you do too.

Yours truly,

Richard Harrold
Assistant Principal (3-5)
The American School Foundation of Monterrey

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

10th November, 1871 - H.M. Stanley "finds" Dr Livingstone on the shores of Lake Tanganyika

11th November, 1918 - At 11 AM, the Great War - the war that was supposed to end all wars, finally reaches its Armistice on the Western Front (see image above). Now known as World War One a mere handfull of centenarian and super-centenarian survivors today remind us of the carnage it represented.

November 12th, 1035 - Death of King Cnut (Canute), King of the Danes and the English who famously demonstrated the limits of human power when he ordered the tide to stop rising.

November 13th, 1930 – U.S. astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers the planet (now demoted to asteroid status) Pluto.

November 14th, 1948 - Plants everywhere celebrate the birth of His Royal Highness Prince Charles.

November 15th, 1920 - The League of Nations opened its first session in Geneva with forty-one nations represented. On January 25, 1919 the Paris peace conference adopted the principal of a League of Nations to keep the peace. 

The American President,  Woodrow Wilson, placed his hopes for the future in this organization of world powers. However, the League proved to be ineffective almost from the beginning because it could only use economic sanctions to prevent aggression. The French argued unsuccessfully for the creation of an international army under the League to increase its power of collective security. Ultimately the League failed to prevent World War II.

November 16th, 1960 -  Film idol Clark Gable dies.