At St. Saviour High School in Brooklyn, History Isn’t Just About the Past

Sean O’Grady, a history teacher at St. Saviour High School in Brooklyn, says that the way history is taught in schools can lead to a lack of knowledge among students.

O’Grady, who began teaching at the school in 2024, noted that some educators rely too heavily on movies and documentaries rather than active instruction. He expressed that this approach contributes to a lack of historical understanding.

His comments follow a survey by the Cato Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C., which found that 58% of Americans did not know the purpose of the U.S. Constitution and 46% did not know that the nation's 250th anniversary commemorated the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.