John Stamos Made History Come Alive Through Exciting Field Trips and Innovative Class Projects

Former longtime Andrew Warde High School teacher John Stamos made history "come alive" by translating abstract ideas into concrete examples through exciting field trips and class projects.

Stamos, pictured below, took his history classes to the Fairfield County Couthouse in Bridgeport 47 years ago this month. There, Stamos' two classes, in conjunction with the study of the constitution and court proceedings, witnessed the judiciary body in action in January of 1963.

The classes were split into two groups upon their arrival at the courthouse. The groups witnessed two different trials. One group watched a civil law case in which a woman was suing for injuries she received in a car accident. A six-man jury was to decide the case. The students arrived as the two lawyers were beginning their summations.

The other group watched a similar lawsuit. However, the defendant admitted his guilt, and the trial was to determine the extent of his liabilities. The case was decided by a judge.

According to senior Joel Brauner, the students gained a "first-hand idea of court procedures." Butch Gilligan added, "We saw how involved the court cases are. Many began five years ago and are just being decided now."

Student Mady Shumofsky added that the students were able to question the lawyers during the 10-minute recess. She wondered why there were 12 chairs for the jury when there were only six jurors on the case. Lawyer George Saden answered that the size of the jury was determined by the amount of money the defendant was willing to pay.

The consensus of opinion among the students was that the trip was extremely valuable. As one student said, it was like watching The Defenders on television, but the case was real-life. It was a more realistic, less dramatic version of a Perry Mason case.

Thirteen years later, Stamos and the history department at Warde combined bicentennial projects with daily classwork. Projects included time capsules, plays, and showcases. Classroom debates dealing with aspects of the bicentennial were also scheduled.

Paul

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