Medal of Freedom 2013 winners: Sally Ride, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton, Loretta Lynn

Curriculum Connections for the 2013 Presidential Medals of Freedom

Posted by SM Bruner on

Every year, the President of the United States confers Presidential Medals of Freedom on a number of highly accomplished Americans who have had profound effects on society. Yesterday, President Obama announced the 2013 recipients of this highest civilian honor in the U.S. The list includes some truly impressive and inspiring individuals—a number of whom are featured prominently in our BrainPOP offerings.

We thought we’d take a moment to salute each of the recipients and suggest some BrainPOP / GameUP / BrainPOP Jr. curriculum connections to help your students better understand the fields they furthered and the causes they championed. Whether you’re enjoying the last weeks of summer vacation or preparing for the start of classes, we hope you’ll take time with your young ones to honor these unique individuals! You can read more about each via yesterday’s Medals of Freedom White House announcement.

2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients featured on BrainPOP:

Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
Curriculum connections: Bill Clinton, Executive Command, President (K-3)

Loretta Lynn, pioneering country musician
Curriculum connections: Country Music, One Man Band

Sally Ride (deceased), astronaut, educator, and the first American woman in space
Curriculum connections: Sally Ride, Space Flight

Oprah Winfrey, broadcast journalist and entrepreneur
Curriculum connections: Oprah Winfrey, The Sports Network-2

Other 2013 recipients:

Ernie Banks, all-star professional baseball player
Curriculum connections: Baseball, Jackie Robinson

Ben Bradlee, news journalist and former executive editor of The Washington Post
Curriculum connections: Reading a Newspaper, Richard Nixon

Daniel Inouye (deceased), U.S. Senator and Representative
Curriculum connections: Branches of Government (K-3), Law Craft

Daniel Kahneman, psychologist and economist
Curriculum connections: Game Theory, Behavior

Richard Lugar, U.S. Senator and opponent of nuclear weapons
Curriculum connections: Nuclear Energy, Cold War

Mario Molina, chemist and environmental scientist who discovered how the ozone layer gets depleted
Curriculum connections: Ozone Layer, Nobel Prize

Bayard Rustin (deceased), civil rights activist and advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr.
Curriculum connections: Civil Rights, Martin Luther King, Jr. (K-3)

Arturo Sandoval, celebrated jazz musician
Curriculum connections: Jazz, Musical Instruments (K-3)

Dean Smith, record-holding college basketball coach
Curriculum connection: Basketball

Gloria Steinem, writer and women’s rights activist
Curriculum connection: Feminism

Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian, minister, author, and civil rights activist
Curriculum connections: Civil RightsMartin Luther King, Jr. (K-3)

Patricia Wald, pioneering appellate judge
Curriculum connections: Court System, Court Quest

Filed as:  3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Barack Obama, Baseball, Basketball, Behavior, Bill Clinton, BrainPOP, BrainPOP Jr.