Secondary School Topic: The Foxfire Idea

10-second review: An article on the purpose and values of the Foxfire project in northern Georgia, an idea developed by Eliot Wigginton.

Title: “Foxfire in the City.” D Insel. English Journal (September 1975), 36-38. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Summary/Quotes: “The Foxfire Book is a book of local coloresque home remedies, directions for log cabin building, soap making, and meat preserving. It is a collection of anecdotes, hunting tales, and other homespun stories told to high school students by the elders of a community in northern Georgia. The students collected and prepared the information for publication almost entirely by themselves.” p. 36.

Eliot Wigginton, the creator of the project: “English, in its simplest definition, is communication—reaching out and touching people with words, sounds and visual images. In their work with photography (which must tell the story with as much impact and clarity as the words), text (which must be grammatically correct except in the use of pure dialect from tapes that they transcribed), lay-out, make-up, correspondence, art and cover design and selection of manuscripts from outside poets and writers—to say nothing of related skills such as fund raising, typing, retailing, advertising, and speaking at conferences and public meetings—they learn more about English than any other curriculum I could desire. Moreover, the curriculum has built-in motivations and immediate and tangible rewards.” p. 37.

The author tells how she used the same kind of project in South Boston.

Comment: Of course, much work has been done with WWII veterans, who are disappearing from our world rapidly. What’s left? The many retirement homes soon to be filled with baby-boomers. That could be the next “Foxfire” project. The emphasis might be on the professions and how they have changed over the years or the experience of women in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, or the changes in technology. And don’t forget the many small towns that still remain vibrant. Foxfire is a form of history that celebrates the individual life. The Foxfire idea is too good to let it disappear from the landscape. RayS.