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My name is Greg Garcia Jr. I majored in history at Western Oregon University.

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After World War II...the thing that drew me into history are the stories of empowerment.

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And how people can come from nowhere to accomplish great things. 

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How, in the case of my grandfather, the son of Spanish immigrants in Hawaii

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could rise and help become one of the people who made our 50th state possible.

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Today I'm a social studies teacher at Franklin High School in the Portland 

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public school district. I teach AP History and AP Psychology. 

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Folks, if you're able to remember this on the big test that makes it all worth it. So yes. 

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Today we were playing a review game for an AP U.S. History test. 

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Definitely, the competition of the game really gets the kids involved. 

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What excites me about history as a teacher is the ability for those stories to be told 

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And the ownership that my students have in telling those stories. 

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My favorite part of the job is the public history project I do with my students 

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at the end of the year where they actually work with museums across  

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the Pacific Northwest. Take the stories that they've developed and 

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make them accessible to the public. My students have interviewed  

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sports figures, local business members and even movie stars.

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I absolutely would recommend Western to future students, prospective students, 

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high school graduates. The personal touch is really a major selling point.

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The relationships that you build. As a matter of fact, my wife

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was the first person I ever met at Western and she is also a Western graduate.

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I was recently honored by being named Oregon History Teacher of the Year. 

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I honestly think I was selected for that because of the services I give the community.

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We are able to have students chronicle the stories of their local communities.

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We've have students interview members of their immigrant community 

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and they literally make history. 

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They go out and they tell stories that are preserved for posterity

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that you can't find in a textbook. 

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Music