WHERE VALUES
MEET ADVENTURE

Education in America is in trouble.  Four out of five high schools seniors don’t know Yorktown was the last battle of the American Revolution, can’t explain why NATO was founded and aren’t even sure why Abraham Lincoln was a great president.  Only one in five young adults can find Iraq or Afghanistan on a world map.  Put a map of the US in front of students and half can’t even find Ohio or New York.  Such stats may be alarming but they need not be a cause for despair.  Parents have always been their kids’ most influential teachers.  Parents also run the best classroom--the family dinner table.  Kids who eat dinner with their family are healthier, do better in school, and are happier people.  And it isn’t about the food—it’s about the time family members spend together developing relationships.  Wouldn’t it be great to order pizza for the family next Tuesday, sit down in front of the TV and have a discussion that engages everyone?  Wouldn’t it be great to teach the kids history, literature, philosophy and technology at the same time?  And while you’re teaching critical thinking skills, why not teach the values that made American democracy the envy of the world?

Gene Roddenberry, its creator, sold the concept of the show to CBS as a “wagon train to the stars.”  Captain James T. Kirk commanded the star ship, Enterprise, on a five-year mission to “discover new life and new civilizations.”  Assisted by his science officer, Spock, and his mercurial medical officer, Dr. “Bones” McCoy, Captain Kirk led his crew from one near catastrophe to the next.  But sandwiched between beautiful young aliens and often comically bad special effects was a compelling vision of what the future might be.  On board the Enterprise, a Russian navigator, Japanese helmsman and black communications officer served as team mates and friends in a world where divisions of race, country and class had disappeared.  Solidly “American” in values and beliefs, the crew of the Enterprise carried with them an unshakeable faith in democracy, respect for human rights, and courage in the face of near certain death.  The show made television history for portraying the first inter-racial kiss on screen, a piece of drama that got it banned from certain affiliates in the racially segregated South. 

Star Trek for Dinner is a  guide for parents, relatives, community leaders and anyone else who cares about kids and wants to make a difference.  It shows all of us how to be effective teachers of their own children by using episodes of the original StarTrek both as a teaching tool and as a wellspring of material to inspiring meaningful dialogue.  Preserved in the episodes of the original Star Trek are the essential moral lessons on the values and beliefs that made America the envy of the free world.  The original StarTrek series was more than a three season show.  It was a window into the mind of what Tom Brokaw so aptly called, the “Greatest Generation.”  This was the generation that grew up during the Great Depression and came of age during World War II.  This was the generation of John F. Kennedy who challenged Americans to ask “not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”