Persian Gulf War Begins: Anniversary January 16, 1991
Engage your students in a discussion about the reasons for this war, what it did and did not accomplish and how it relates to the current tensions between the United States and Iraq at this moment.  Allow your students to examine the details of the relationship between the U.S. and Iraq and how events escalated into war.  On what terms were these two countries prior to the conflict?  How did the relationship change over time?  What can be learned from this conflict?  From these discussions, students will be able to discern the complexities and uncertainties of this issue and will, therefore, have a better understanding of how conflicts on this level arise.

Benjamin Franklin: Birth Anniversary January 17, 1706
Ben Franklin did not only play with lightening and kites.  He was an inventor, a diplomat, a philosopher and a musician, as well.  This Founding Father of the United States was an incredibly ingenious man who served the newly formed nation in many ways.  Have your students discover what positive services he provided for the American people and the newly formed United States, including his election in 1787 as the president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of  Slavery.

Do Something: Kindness and Justice Challenge January 20-31
Sponsored by Do Something, (http://www.dosomething.org/), these two weeks should be used by classes and schools to log in acts of kindness and justice, where students help others and stand up for what is right.  Students should write down their acts of kindness and justice performed during this time and post the lists to the website.  If your school performs over 1,000 acts of kindness, it will receive special recognition on the site.
 
January 22 National Compliment Day 
Encourage your students to compliment at least five people this day.  Have your students brainstorm about why taking the time to give compliments is beneficial to both the receiver and the giver.  This character-building exercise allows students also to adopt a positive outlook about others and develop the ability to see the best in one another. 
 
Elizabeth Blackwell awarded MD: anniversary  January 23, 1849
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to receive an MD degree.  Students can use this anniversary to create a project documenting the history of women and minorities in medicine.  Women and minorities have been involved in medicine and medical practice as long as the notion has existed, one of the more common examples being midwives.  By researching such involvement, students will learn the rich history of medicine and will obtain a broader perspective about the practitioners of medicine.  After some research is done, the class can invite female and/or minority medical doctors to the classroom to talk and answer questions about their profession and the difficulties or triumphs they may have faced to get to their position.  The visits can be documented by writing, interviews, photographs or digital media and can then be used as a study resource for other classes.