Separation

Since the separation of church and state in Utah is often, shall we say "tricky" (I was going to say "non-existent", but didn't want to risk exaggeration), I would be surprised if many of you had not had a similar experience to the one I had in my classroom this week.

One of the skills first graders should have by the end of the school year is the ability to recognize pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.  To help students with this skill, we introduce the coins one by one, talk about what they're made of, how much they're worth, how many it would take to make a dollar, whose likeness is on the front, and what's depicted on the back.  Here's a brief synopsis of how part of the lesson went yesterday (and how it goes most years):

Mrs. Plant: So we know whose head on the penny, right?
Logan: Abraham Lincoln!  He died.
Mrs Plant: That's correct and also very insightful.  Which president do you think is on the front of the Nickel?
Jonah: President Hinckley!  (For those readers who don't know, this was the former president of the Mormon church).
Mrs. Plant: No, Jonah, President Hinckley was the president of a church, not our country.  That's a good guess though because they were both "presidents."  I'll give you a hint: he was the 3rd president of our country (insert the sound of birds chirping here).  His name was Thomas Jefferson (here there was a brief discussion about this president that none of my students will remember, except maybe that he died).  How about the dime?  Any guesses on which President is on the dime?
Jonah: President Hinckley!
Mrs. Plant: No, Jonah.  As I just explained, President Hinckley was the president of a church, not the United States.  He's not on any of our money.  I'll give you a hint: he was the 32nd president of the United States (insert the sound of crickets chirping here).  Okay, his name was Franklin D. Roosevelt (blah, blah, blah, also dead).  Let's move on to the quarter.  I heard a few of you guess this president when we talked about the other coins.
Stewart: President Hinckley!  (Really?)
Mrs. Plant: No.  Not President Hinckley.  A president of the United States by the name of George Washington - our first president - yep, also deceased.  President Hinckley was the - oh forget it.  Let's just go quietly back to our desks.

Like I said..."tricky".