Hello All!
I wanted to share a resource that was recently published that I worked on throughout 2024 and turned into a National Contest that I believe will be occurring again at the start of 2025. The World War II Portraits of Service: Why I Served project is part of the Veterans Legacy Program through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Cemetery Administration. This series of lessons provides students with the tools to conduct research of veterans that will allow them to ultimately answer the question "Why did they serve?"
These lessons coalesce with a project, challenging students to take their learning and research and to create a documentary, song, podcast, or original poem and to submit it into a contest in which they can win $500 and have their work published on the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Web Site.
From the lesson: The five lessons in this unit explore how Americans who served in segregated and specialized units during World War II described their enlistment . It investigates these stories against the backdrop of their civilian experiences, which included racial or gender discrimination . Students will read and view materials created by or about Veterans and service members who served in 761st Tank Battalion, in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, as code talkers, and in the Women’s Army Corps . They will investigate newspaper articles, oral histories and interviews, correspondence, and visual materials .
The link to the lesson is: https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/file_media/GLI_VLP_WWII.pdf
For examples of 2024's winners: https://www.gilderlehrman.org/veterans-legacy-program/student-contest/2024-winners
Stay tuned for this being launched for 2025! It was wonderful to be able to see all of the incredible submissions come in from around the country and for students to exhibit their creativity. It would be great to see what folks in the Apple Education Community could do with their students!
Attach up to 5 files which will be available for other members to download.