Two weeks ago on Career Pathway day, I had the opportunity to job shadow my 8th grade U.S History teacher, Mr. Matthew Bennett. I must say that it was a glorious day.

Because of ISTEP testing at the Middle School, I was unable to go there until after 10:00 A.M. Once I arrived, I signed in in the main office and walked to Mr. Bennett’s room. There, the fun began.

Every class period we went through the same thing. After he had his students watch a BrainPop video about the causes of the American Civil War, Mr. Bennett talked the class through a lecture on the election of 1860, in which Abraham Lincoln was elected president. This event was also the spark that ignited the Civil War.

Once this discussion ended, we read a few pages from the book To Be a Slave. I had to read the book when I was in 8th grade, and it was as boring as I remember it.

The highlight of each class period was the ending. In the past, Mr. Bennett and I liked to ask each other challenging U.S history trivia questions. In the final part of each class period, we did this once again and even involved the class in asking the questions.

Job shadowing Mr. Bennett was a great opportunity, and I hope to job shadow him once again next year.