By Pete Vilmur
In the spirit of seeing the original 1977 version of A New Hope this September on DVD, starwars.com is taking fans back to the classrooms of the late '70s where the day-to-day routine of mathematics, English, history, and recess could be broken up by an occasional lesson from that galaxy far, far away. Multi-media filmstrip presentations, expansive workbooks, and even 16mm movies based directly or loosely on the Star Wars universe could all be part of the grade school curriculum back then, when educators saw Star Wars as a means to reach students on a level that might be more receptive to learning.
Before the days of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, which champions the use of fun as a means to engage students in learning, there were publishing companies which sought to use kid-friendly properties like Star Wars to enhance students' skills in reading and writing. Pendulum Press started things off in 1978 with the release of an obscure educational kit that's been all but forgotten by old-school Star Wars fans, and likely totally unknown to the digital-savvy students of today's classrooms. The multi-media kit, which featured 80-plus slides cued to a taped soundtrack of dialog, sound effects, and music, included a read-along comic book for students and a series of purple mimeograph masters from which teachers could produce several worksheets.
Looking back, time has not been kind to the Pendulum Press Star Wars presentation. What was certainly a good faith effort on the part of the producers to impart valuable reading skills through the use of Star Wars characters and situations now seems, well, downright hokey.
With bubble-gum artwork and campy voiced character impersonations, starwars.com is nevertheless proud to debut for the first time ever in digital space the highly-elusive Star Wars classroom filmstrip presentation of 1978, complete with downloadable purple .pdf worksheets which can be completed after the presentation but before recess (sorry, magic mimeograph aroma not included). Remember, any giggling earns an hour of detention and spit-wads are a ticket to the principal's office.
