Thursday, October 1, 1998
Student Meeting: Transcript
Teacher Meeting: Transcript

During the Town Meeting there will be a discussion of the Royal Mail Ship Titanic and the events of April 14-15, 1912.

This will focus on the passengers, the reasons for the sinking, and the 86-year legacy surrounding the Titanic’s perilous maiden voyage.

Students may want to consider the following items:

1. What is the definitive book about the Titanic?
2. Why was the Titanic called "unsinkable"?
3. What was the "women and children first philosophy" based upon?
4. How many survivors are still alive today?
5. What special stories of the passengers (such as the Astors, the Straus’, and Douglas Spedden ) have survived until today?

Teachers may want to consider the following items:

1. How can you use the Titanic to teach history, art, music, literature, language, science and math?
2. What special activities can you do to make this a large group or a school wide activity?
3. What materials are available that should be in your school library or classroom ?

Titanic Resources from Dr. Ratchford’s Instructional Support Website
http://gcs.gaston.k12.nc.us/admn/Instsupp/page12.html
(To locate more information, search the Internet for "RMS Titanic".)

Dr. Melinda E. Ratchford

Dr. Melinda Ratchford is Director of Instructional Support (counselors, nurses, social workers and librarians) for the 51 schools in the Gaston County Schools. She has an undergraduate degree in social science from Appalachian State, a Masters in Instructional Media from UNC-Greensboro, a Sixth Year degree from Appalachian in Curriculum and Instruction and a doctorate from UNC-Chapel Hill in Administration and Supervision. She has 30 years experience in the North Carolina schools having been a classroom teacher at the junior and senior high level and a librarian at elementary, junior and senior high levels. She was the first coordinator of the Gaston County Schools Teacher Resource Center and Director of Media and Technology from 1988-1995. She is state president of the North Carolina Association of School Librarians. She has done national presentations and videos for IBM and Southern Bell.

Dr. Ratchford has had a fascination with the Titanic since reading Walter Lord’s A Night to Remember in 1958. She has given over 70 presentations to various school, civic, social and church groups in the last two years on subject of the Titanic.

Permission secured for use of the titanic graphic from http://www.hinet.net.au/~darkjedi/

Last updated: 11/18/05