I teach a class in Civil War (high school) as a survey class and I teach a class in Civil War in Missouri in St. James, MO. The students are fascinated at what actually happened here. In grade school and middle school, they know about Harriet Tubman and Gettysburg, but little else. Most are even confused about the "blue and gray" thing as well. After my classes, they know much more. The local ties are the most important for most of them. Some of them try to find if they are related to soldiers of either side. I put out about sixty students a year who who have a better understand of the dynamics of the war and how Missourians were impacted it before and afterwards (we have a section on the Baldknobbers as well). I know the high school at Rolla teaches a Civil War class in high school as well. I'm planning to attend a teacher workshop in February in St. Louis which will teach about St. Louis in the Civil War. Fortunately, there are programs available to help teachers teach about the war in class.