tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8040205359373904435.post8082470210755367499..comments2008-11-09T09:17:24.451-06:00Larian LeQuellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12565621013251370015steve@larianlequella.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8040205359373904435.post-24148937910872174012008-11-09T09:17:00.000-06:002008-11-09T09:17:00.000-06:00Thanks for the comment Mark.Larian LeQuellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12565621013251370015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8040205359373904435.post-6054364167450542452008-11-09T00:22:00.000-06:002008-11-09T00:22:00.000-06:00As a fifth-grade teacher in Colorado, probably the most important thing I can instill in students is the belief that all their voices are important. Their future does not have to be inevitable. "Little voices" can make dramatic impacts on events. That is Thomas Paine's greatest contribution to our country. His pamphlet, Common Sense, spoke to all the voices in the 13 colonies during a time of great fear and indecision. He gave a vast number of citizens a vision of what each could do, 176 days before the Declaration of Independence. A belief that power should radiate from the citizens. That message is still paramount to all our students today. For that pamphlet alone, Paine needs to be recognized as a intrical part of the American miracle. <BR/><BR/>Mark Wilensky, <BR/>author of "The Elementary Common Sense of Thomas Paine: An Interactive Adaptation for All Ages" <BR/>www.NewCommonSenseBook.comMark Wilenskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697874804426982528noreply@blogger.com