Really Enjoyed Working with Honors-Level Students at Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, New York
For several weeks this winter, I was thrilled to work with an honors-level “co-taught” English/US History course called “American Stories” at Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, New York. Students are required to complete a research project on a U.S. History topic of their choice, using primary and secondary sources, and must interview a historian as part of the assignment. The end products are a 10-minute documentary and an accompanying research paper, complete with footnotes and sources.
I enjoyed being interviewed by students (shown in this photo) on a number of topics, including: the Sacco and Vanzetti case; the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case; the “Ghost Army” of WWII and its efforts to deceive the Germans as to the location of the D-Day invasion; John Brown and Bleeding Kansas in 1856; and the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII.
Shown in the photo (standing from left): Alex Raley, Caden Leska, Kendall Williams, Cooper Swanson, Finn Conway, and Nick Diamond; and (kneeling from left): Zeyad Rabie and Evan Ralston. They were kind enough to thank me, but I also want to thank them for their thoughtful and thorough questions. I’m also grateful to US History teacher Rob Rider, and English teacher Heather Porter for involving me in this outstanding project!
