Churchill 101

Several SHHS students recently attended a unique history presenation performed by Winston Churchill's great-grandson, Jonathan Sandys. Back row, left to right, Jose Gonzalez, Alberto Gonzalez, Ebenezer Rivera, Andrew Conley, Ryan Odum. Middle row, left to right, Kyler Davidson, Juan Lopez, Karely Gonzalez, Aracely Gomez, Magy Smith, Allyson Lomax, Ashley Duvall, Brittani Wilson, Taryn Gillette, Jessica Munroe, Joyce Jaynes, Kelli Dern. Front row, left to right, Rolando Silas, Lindsey Thomas, Sebastian Stokes, Jonathan Sandys, Dustin Munroe, Amber Riddle, Tiffany Hindmon, Jennifer Jones, Dominick Marino. Photo provided

A group of students from Senath-Hornersville High School (SHHS) recently took part in a unique history curriculum presented by Winston Churchill's great-grandson, Jonathan Sandys.

Kelli Dern, a history teacher at SHHS, took 23 students to Arkansas State University for Sandys' presentation, "Churchill 101 - The Making of Winston Churchill," a program designed to teach college and university students about the life, principles, morals, values and leadership skills of his great-grandfather.

"My aim is to reach out to as many schools, colleges, universities, businesses, organizations and individuals as possible," Sandys said. "Without a doubt, this is a lifelong project, and I intend to do my part in reuniting a broken world."

Through his programs, Sandys has been introducing the significance of Churchill's philosophy of "Never Surrender!"

"Had I known then what I know now about my great-grandfather's life, I would never have given up at school, and like Winston Churchill, I would have become more resilient and determined to show those with out belief in me, that I was made of stronger metal and determined to succeed, no matter what they thought," Sandys said.

Sandys said he has "been very fortunate to inherit" Churchill's love of art and writing, his interest in history, his passion for Britain and America, his fascination with the American culture and its people.

"Many of the students were in doubt about how to act and if they would be bored during a lecture at a university," Dern said. "After arriving and meeting Jonathan, they quickly became more relaxed and all appeared to greatly enjoy the lecture."

Dern said Sandys kept the entire audience captivated with factual stories of his great-grandfather, and after the lecture, Sandys invited the students on stage for a photo and asked them to sign a T-shirt for him to remember them by.

"The behavior and curiousness of our students during and after the event was very exciting to me as a teacher," Dern said. "I feel this was a great opportunity and hope that we may attend more events such as this in the future.

"Jonathan was an excellent speaker for all ages. He kept our students interested by not only telling history in story form but acting them out on stage. I feel the students learned many facts they will not soon forget."

Several of the students attending had positive things to say about the program.

"I loved his accent and the way he told his stories about his great-grandfather. He was really funny," said SHHS Junior Aracely Gomez.

"He was very interesting and seemed very interested in American Culture." said Senior, Andrew Conley.

Brittani Wilson, a Junior at SHHS said, "He was very unbiased and told things how they were. He was very clear and easy to understand."

"I found it very interesting when he talked about Hitler," said Junior class student, Juan Lopez.

"He was very intelligent and funny," said Ryan Odum, Junior.

"I usually get bored in things like this but Jonathan was really interesting and I liked it," said Freshman Kyler Davidson.

"He was AWESOME, I learned much more about Winston Churchill, Hilter and our President [Franklin Delano Roosevelt] and I loved his accent," said Sophomore Amber Riddle.

Sandys is the founder and chairman of Churchill's Britain Foundation, an organization "seeking to eliminate illiteracy and poverty through the idea of education not as it is, but rather as it should be," according to the foundation's Web site.