Why is "Pop Culture" so important in the US?

[momopi]

I used to teach 5th grade and had some experience with the education system.

Because of the way that schools are funded in the US, the difference between better-off and worse-off neighborhoods are pretty big. School districts are also measured by meritocracy results, those that are better result in highe property prices, versus lower = cheaper property prices in the neighborhood.

As a former teacher, I'd like to say that individual teachers make a huge difference and impact on the students. But parents find it difficult to measure each teacher as a person, so they look at the test results only.

I went to a so-so school district but had a few very good teachers. The first was Mr. Hardenbrook, who taught English and Frech. I think a former student best described him in this sentence: "I attended his French class for couple of years and didn't learn any French, but then I moved to Paris and married a French guy." Mr. Hardenrbook was actually NOT a very good language teacher, but his lessons were filled with arts, history, culture, films, poetry, philisophy, and all kinds of goodies. He took us to Art Galleries and Operas. He drove a big van and hauled a whole bunch of us to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera when it starred Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman in LA. He even paid for the program guide book for all of us.

To this day I still have books by Gaston Leroux, Claude Monet posters, and watch The Adventure of Asterix cartoons. If anyone is interested, you can buy or download from BT to check them out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix

Mr. Hardenbrook passed away about a decade ago. He was more of a Quaker and disliked funerals, so we had a "Friends Meeting" pot luck at his house. Afterwards we buried him under a liquid amber tree. No grave stones, no ceremony. He always had a Bible on his desk, but the only religious lesson he ever gave us was a story about when he was younger attending Church. He said, the Pastor brought 2 metal buckets, one filled with a water. The Pastor then said to the congregation, that their soul were like the water in the first bucket. Sometimes you feel like you want to stay home and not go to Church, so this happens -- the Pastor took a pick and slammed a hole in the side of the bucket, and another, and another. Then the Pastor said, this is what happens, your soul goes down to hell. Mr. Hardenbook thought the guy was "full of sh*t" and left, never to return.

I didn't fully comprehend the lesson at the time, it wasn't until much later, in college, when another mentor taught me to "vote with my feet", then I had a sudden realization. God gave you legs so you can walk, USE THEM.