Abstract
In preparation for his book, A Call to Heroism: Renewing America's Vision of Greatness (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2002), Peter Gibbon traveled throughout America for over five years, speaking to students about heroes, celebrities, sports stars, leaders, and historic figures. He visited a wide variety of schools, public and private, urban and suburban, charter and parochial. Forums ranged from a thousand students sitting on bleachers in a gymnasium to small groups of students in history and literature classes. Gibbon kept a journal of each school visit, excerpts from which became the chapter “Talking to Students About Heroes.” The entry that follows is from his journal and describes his visit to Stuyvesant High School.
Stuyvesant High School is also featured in the book review essay of this journal, as Gibbon reviews Teacher Man, by Frank McCourt, bestselling author of Angela's Ashes; and A Class Apart: Prodigies, Pressure, and Passion: Inside One of America's Best High Schools, by Alec Klein, who was once a student of McCourt's. The Journal of Education is indebted to Gibbon for providing this insider's view of Stuyvesant High School.
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