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Home Education Tom McCall: A Better Oregon Study Units 2—Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky

In an interview with author Studs Terkel, McCall said, "Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people who say: This is my community, and it is my responsibility to make it better."

In his farewell address to the Oregon Legislature, McCall said, "May we forever prove (by our action) that people can join together for mutual benefit and greater good."

This curriculum guide is based on the belief that young people gain much from the merger of classroom learning with community action. Through service learning, students develop leadership and problem solving skills. They practice being thoughtful, active community members, and learning becomes deeper, more personal.

Essential Questions

What is special about Oregon?

What does it mean to be a hero?


Classroom learning focuses on helping students understand the Beach Bill, the Bottle Bill, the Bicycle Bill and Land Use Planning, and Tom McCall's role in their passage.

The Community Action part of this unit reflects McCall's belief that only ordinary citizens can sustain the livability and environmental concerns that make Oregon special. Students work together, applying reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills, to address a real community need.

Common Core State Standards

Common Core State and Oregon Social Studies Standards (PDF)

Student Objectives



Literary Texts

William Stafford, Oregon Poet

Informational Texts

Art, Music, Media

Sample Activities and Assessments


Video Response and Written Journal Reflection: Watch eleven minute video montage of Tom McCall. Students keep a journal entry of questions and emotional response to the video. What video snapshot do you want to know more about? Which piece had the most emotional tug? What questions were you asking as the video was playing?

Class Discussion: Using the video as a starting place, Introduce the policies most closely associated with Tom McCall: Beach, Bottle, Bike, and Land Use Planning. (mnemonic device: BBBLUP).

Internet Research: Students discover additional information about the policies. Use Oregon Blue Book, Oregon Historical Society, and/or Oregon Archives. Students differentiate information as coming from primary or secondary sources.

Class Discussion: Share learning through small group activities such as share/pair.

Poetry Response/Journal Write/ Class Discussion: Read William Stafford's poem, With Kit, Age 7, at the Beach. Students write about beach experiences, outdoor experiences. What is there about Oregon's beaches that draw people in? If Oregon's beaches were privately owned, how would personal experiences be different?

Video Analysis: Watch the video a second time. Students look for direct references to the BBBLUP bills. How is the second viewing different from the first? Refer back to journal writing from first viewing. Are there any snapshots that students want to see again? Students really listen to McCall's voice. What words are pronounced oddly? What does he appear to be most passionate about?

Quotes Study/Discussion/Journal Response: Using McCall's quote about heroes, students identify the attributes of a hero and consider the heroes within their own community, the ordinary people who make the world a little bit better. Is Tom McCall a hero? Students read additional McCall quotes, select one to respond through journal writing.

Blog: Create a classroom blog site to document service-learning work.

Dramatic Interpretation:What would Tom McCall Say? Students memorize a quote or a piece from the video, and give a dramatic interpretation of it. Students could also look at current issues through the eyes of Tom McCall and create "quotes" for him. Students have access to the video on OHS website.

Music:Use the CD of Time and Rivers Flowing, by Mason Williams as the theme music for this unit. Mason Williams used music to protect the North Fork of the Willamette River from proposed hydro-electric dams. Is Mason Williams a hero? Do you have enough information to make the determination?

Reflective Essay:Write a response to the essential questions: What does it mean to be a hero? -or- What is special about Oregon? Use and site appropriate Tom McCall quotes.


Using the service-learning model, students identify a need in their community to address. Students conduct research, propose solutions, and act upon them.





Making Interdisciplinary Connections

This unit could be extended to teach: Oregon's Landmark Legislation

Oregon has repeatedly led the nation in creating, revising, and implementing laws shaping the quality of life of its citizens. While Oregon’s innovations have evoked controversy, they have charted the course for other states and nations. The 16 exhibit panels highlight groundbreaking legislation that Oregon has passed since Statehood either by Politician, Legislative Action, or Public Initiative. Arranged...



Planning for a Productive Paradise: Tom McCall and the Conservationist Tale of Oregon Land-Use Policy

Governor Thomas Lawson McCall is remembered by many as a larger-than-life figure who made a mark on the Oregon landscape with his strong land-use planning legislation. Laura Jane Gifford explores that legacy from a new angle through an argument that McCall's vision was tied "to the Republican Party politics of the Progressive Era…. emphasiz[ing] wise use and careful planning to generate progress in place of mere...
 “A Symbol of Home”: The Environmental and Political Legacy of Tom McCall in Oregon

Famous for his forceful language and political skill, Governor Tom McCall has remained the name and face of Oregon’s remarkable legacy of environmental lawmaking. His environmental efforts were not the earliest in the state, nor were his achievements his alone; but he provided people with a compelling and ambitious narrative that emphasized citizen responsibility to protect the land and its resources. This narrative...

