O Beautiful Forever Stamps: Celebrating America's Beauty

Have you ever looked at a stamp and wondered about the picture on it? The O Beautiful Forever Stamps (U.S. #5298, 2018 50¢ O Beautiful) are special stamps that show some of the most beautiful places in America. How did these stamps come to be and why they are important?

The idea for the O Beautiful Forever Stamps came from a famous song called "America the Beautiful." This song, written by Katharine Lee Bates in 1893, and the lyrics talk about the amazing natural beauty of the United States. The United States Postal Service wanted to make stamps that celebrated these beautiful places mentioned in the song.

Making these stamps was a big project. The USPS worked with photographers and artists to find the best pictures of American landscapes. They wanted to show different types of scenery from all over the country. Here are the ten places they chose for the stamps:

1. Baldwin Peninsula in Kotzebue, Alaska
2. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Arizona and Utah
3. Yosemite National Park in California
4. Wheat fields in Palouse, Washington
5. Fire Island National Seashore in New York
6. Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii
7. Grand Tetons in Wyoming
8. Shenandoah National Park in Virginia
9. Mount Rainier in Washington
10. The Grand Canyon in Arizona

Each of these places is very special and shows the beauty of America in a different way.

The O Beautiful Forever Stamps were introduced to the public on July 4, 2018, on America's Independence Day. The ceremony to show the stamps was held in Colorado Springs, a place with its own beautiful scenery that inspired the song "America the Beautiful."

Katharine Lee Bates was a 33-year-old English professor from Wellesley College. In 1893, she was inspired by the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the wheat fields of the Great Plains, and, most of all, Pikes Peak and decided to write a poem about the unrivaled beauty of her country. The poem was published two years later and eventually, it was set to music.

People loved the stamps! They thought the pictures were beautiful and enjoyed seeing America's landscapes in this special way. The stamps became very popular with people who collect stamps and those who love nature.

The O Beautiful Forever Stamps do more than just help send letters. They show the world how beautiful America is. Every time someone uses one of these stamps, it shares a little piece of America’s beauty. These stamps also remind us to take care of these natural places. They help us appreciate and protect our environment so that future generations can enjoy it too. Also, the stamps inspire people to learn more about these beautiful places. Someone may see a stamp with Yosemite National Park and decide they want to visit it one day. The stamps help us feel proud of our country and its natural wonders.

The O Beautiful Forever Stamps are not just pieces of paper. They are little works of art that celebrate the incredible beauty of America. From mountains to beaches, and from parks to canyons, these stamps show us the wonderful places that make our country special. Next time you see one of these stamps, remember the amazing landscapes they represent and the pride they bring to our nation.

References:
https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2018/pr18_050.htm
https://www.mysticstamp.com/5298-2018-first-class-forever-stamp-o-beautiful/

EDEX 962 and EDEX 963

Today begins another day of teaching. I’m teaching a combined class of EDEX 962 and EDEX963 which has four students. I have been teaching this class for the past 17 years. It is a practicum class so I created a school for these teachers to show me that they can apply all that they learned in their other Master’s level classes. It is my favorite class to teach because I love seeing how my students grow in just four weeks. It is like watching baby birds learn to fly.

For their first blog reflection, this is their assignment:

“I want you to come up with 3 goals for yourself. I want to know how you are feeling about the course, the children, and your expectations.”

I also have 3 goals:

• I want to make sure that everything is set up for my teachers so they have a great learning experience.
• I want to give feedback to my teachers so they will have useful information to help their own teaching.
• I want to be available as a resource so my teachers can gain confidence in teaching students with special needs.

I’ve been teaching for 44 years and I’m still excited about beginning this class. Like any class with any age students, every class and every student is different. You never know what challenges you may face but I like facing them together with my students. I feel that if you aren’t excited on the first day of any class you are teaching, then maybe it is time to get out of teaching. I love teaching and sharing my experiences with my students (who are teachers). I hope that they will learn from my experiences so that they can be effective in their classrooms.

Let the fun begin!

Photo by Ivan Aleksic on Unsplash