THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411160164
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 8L EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
When Harold Dellinger came to Virginia Beach from York, Pa., on Nov. 2, he pitched a 16-foot-diameter tepee on the grounds of John B. Dey Elementary School. Instead of evicting him for trespassing, the school welcomed Dellinger with open arms and textbooks. He has taught classes and cooked a turkey in his tepee and spoken to a standing-room-only PTA assembly. Dellinger is just doing his job.
The peripatetic historian tries to offer ``a more rounded view of American history,'' he told the PTA gathering recently. ``Let's face it, our textbooks have usually excluded African-Americans, women and other minorities, such as Native Americans. Or presented limited, stereotyped views.''
About 300 of Dey's 800 students listened to Dellinger's one-hour talk.
He listed some of the contributions of American Indians to this country's collective culture.
``Tobacco, coffee, aspirin, ginger ale, root beer,'' Dellinger told them. ``Those are all Native American.
``Ipecac - do you know what that is? That's the medicine that induces vomiting,'' he said as students wrinkled their noses at his description.
Other than the mention of ipecac, John B. Dey attendees received Dellinger's presentation enthusiastically.
Fifth-grade classmates David Young, Robert Mestas and Chris Phan talked about their new-found knowledge.
Mestas: ``I learned that since the spear was so heavy, there's not much power when it hits the target.''
Young: ``When they say their name, it's in a different language.'' (Dellinger had pronounced some tribal names in the original Native American tongue.)
Phan: ``I learned the movies are a fake sometimes.''
Katie Swain, 9, is a fourth-grader at Dey. Her class spent 30 minutes in the two-story tepee.
``The whole presentation was different than reading from our social studies book. He told us how they kept rain out of the tepee,'' Swain said.
``I think we learned a lot and it was fun.''
Dellinger earned a master of fine arts degree in theater from Michigan State University before the call of the road and history beckoned. He has been traveling the East Coast for nine years.
``My father has been doing this for 20 years,'' Dellinger said. ``I sort of fell into it. We try to make history fun.''
Principal Elizabeth Taylor and PTA president Pam Bennis said that the PTA emphasizes educational programs.
``Almost every month our PTA puts on an educational program, programs that are geared to both students and teachers,'' said Taylor.
``We have about $8,000 to spend on enrichment this year,'' said Bennis. ``We're bringing in an artist-in-residence, a couple of authors to talk to the classes. And we also have an afterschool enrichment program.''
PTA volunteers contribute about 20,000 to 25,000 hours a school year, according to Bennis. Her son, Ryan, 10, is a fifth-grader; daughter, Courtney, 8, is in the third grade.
``Every grade level here touches upon some aspect of Native American history or tradition,'' said Taylor.
Eyeing the overflowing cafeteria, Bennis smiled and said, ``This is the largest turnout we've had for a PTA program. The kids were really pumped about this. They all went home and told their parents.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY EDWARDS
Harold Dellinger set up his teepee at John B. Dey Elementary
School.
by CNB