In the classroom, at least, nobody wants to make the teacher mad.
But dozens of America's educators are angry as hornets about Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s plan to build a Supercenter near a national park at the Wilderness in Virginia.
This weekend, teachers visiting the Fredericksburg area from across the nation hurled a respectful salvo at the retail giant, spontaneously penning a letter to Orange County.
Orange officials are expected to decide tonight or tomorrow whether to allow a 220,000-square-foot retail center to be built near the entrance to Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
Writing Lee Frame, chairman of the Orange Board of Supervisors, the teachers asked the county's leaders to "respect this hallowed battleground of American history and select another site in Orange County for this commercial development."
Calling Civil War battlefields "irreplaceable resources for those who seek to impart the significance of the American Civil War," they said of the Wilderness, "Unfortunately, this historic landscape is under siege."
One hundred fifteen teachers signed the letter, which will be hand-delivered to Frame tonight when the Orange board holds a public hearing on the proposal to build the largest retail center in the county. They make up the vast majority of 140 educators from 32 states who were attending the eighth annual Teacher Institute sponsored by the Civil War Preservation Trust, a three-day conference.
"As teachers, we the undersigned feel strongly that the Wilderness Battlefield and other historic sites play an integral role in educating future generations about the events that have shaped our nation," the teachers wrote.
"We meet this weekend in neighboring Spotsylvania County, Va., to celebrate this region's incomparable Civil War history and explore ways to improve the quality of history education in our classrooms, scattered across the country," they said. "Even as we strive to bring the past alive for our students, we recognize that a preserved battlefield is an outdoor classroom with the power to transport students and visitors back to the
Wal-Mart is collaborating with JDC Ventures of Vienna, the site's owner, on the project at State Routes 3 and 20, across Route 3 from the national park. JDC's 51.6-acre tract is zoned for commercial development, but the landowner must obtain a special-use permit for stores larger than 60,000 square feet. The Wal-Mart would be about 138,000 square feet in area.
Jim Campi, spokesman for the 70,000-member trust, said the letter-writing movement arose spontaneously among the educators who came from north, south, east and west to trade tips on new and engaging ways to teach about American heritage.
"The teachers had the same reaction so many people have when they learn Wal-Mart wants to build on the battlefield: first shock, then outrage," Campi said. "One teacher asked rhetorically, 'How can I explain to my students that Wal-Mart builds their stores on hallowed ground?'"
"On their own, without any instigation on the part of CWPT, the teachers told us they wanted to do something--anything to make their outrage known," he said. "They settled on a letter to the Orange Board of Supervisors, making clear they would take their message to Wal-Mart, if necessary."
The Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864, considered one of the war's most significant engagements, was the first clash between forces commanded by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
Spokesmen for Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., have said JDC's property is the only parcel in eastern Orange's Route 3 corridor that meets its requirements for acreage, road access and existing commercial zoning.
The Board of Supervisors' public hearing will begin at 7 o'clock tonight in the auditorium of Orange High School in the town of Orange.
fredericksburg.com/News/Web/walmartClint Schemmer: 540/368-5029
Email: cschemmer@freelancestar.com