The subject was Bacon's Rebellion.
Teacher Carolyn E. Gray was explaining to her fifth-graders yesterday that Nathaniel Bacon's followers supported lower taxes and they were also mean to the colonial Virginia Indians.
This put them in direct opposition to the governor, Sir. William Berkeley, who was more tolerant toward the Indians and supported the tax hikes directed by England.
Now, who would you support? she asked her Masterman School 10- and 11-year-olds.
To her surprise, many went with Bacon and his lower taxes.
After class, Gray lamented that the answers lacked the compassion that she knows her students possess. The kind of compassion they displayed while making dolls for AIDS sufferers this past Christmas, or when they take care of the class pet, Shadow, an energetic black gerbil.
Last night, Gray's own compassion and dedication for teaching was recognized when she received the Dr. Ruth Wright Hayre Teacher of the Year Award.
The honor was bestowed at the 14th annual Celebration of Excellence in Education, held at the School District building at 21st Street and the Parkway.
Gray was one of 22 nominated teachers. In addition, school board President Floyd Alston received the Leon J. Obermayer Award, presented to a Philadelphia public school graduate who has made a lasting contribution to public school students; William Penn High School Principal Ellen Linky received the Marcus Foster Award, honoring an outstanding school administrator, and Bartram High School senior John Palm received the Richard H. deLone Memorial Scholarship, awarded to an outstanding senior in one of the academy programs.
``I'm a compassionate person and I want my students to be compassionate. I tell them to think about each other and don't be rude,'' Gray said hours before learning she had won.
Gray puts her money where her mouth is. She estimates that she has spent about $800 of her own money this year on books and other supplies. Her budget is $50.
Also, her role as a consultant to the National Geographic Society has garnered her class the donation of $4,000-worth of ATLASPHERE's - high-tech, interactive, talking globes.
She has taught at Masterman since 1992 - this year literature, science and social studies. But her teaching goes back much further.
