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Veteran's Day Project Ideas

• Honoring Veterans/ Looking at War
• Flag Project
  

Many schools organize efforts in which students interview Veterans about their war time experiences. Students provide a service to the community by preserving the legacy of these veterans’ experiences, while the students themselves begin to see history as more than a chapter in a book. At best, they start to understand that history is a constantly unfolding process meted out through our daily decisions and commitments.

Often, teachers report that exposure to the reality of war can undermine some students’ glorification of violence. Teachers can choose to take careful steps to ensure that projects in their school do not glorify war at the expense of other possibilities. Classroom visits by Veterans can be a good place to start.

Teachers should instruct students to ask open-ended questions, so that Veterans may share their thoughts with students as they wish. Teachers should also encourage students to ask a diverse group of individuals about the impact that wars had on their lives. Women at home during WWII, for example, have many stories of sacrifice and difficulty that are still part of how the War shaped American life. One startled southwestern Pennsylvania history teacher once answered a call at school to find out that an aged version of Rosie the Riveter was on the line demanding to know why women weren’t included in interviews about WWII.

Finally, higher-level high school classes may be analytically advanced enough to carefully address an issue that is often sidestepped in such projects, namely, the Vietnam War. The currently popular practice of interviewing WWII Veterans but not Veterans of America’s other conflicts over the last half century reduces war to the single best example of a clear victory over a cold-blooded fascist tyrant. Veterans know that war is much more complicated. Honoring Veterans by preserving their experience of world events exposes war at the most personal level.

More Ideas....

Flag Project

Did you ever notice all the flags placed on soldiers' gravestones for Independence Day, Memorial Day and Veterans Day? Well, they didn't get there without a lot of help! Many local VFW organizations are in desperate need of help during these holidays with the placement of flags on veterans' graves. Contact your local VFW to see how your students can actively assist local veterans with flag distribution in local graveyards throughout your community.

How is this service-learning? Make it service-learning by connecting it to the curriculum. Here are some suggestions:

1. History students can research soldiers who are buried in local graveyards. From the Revolutionary War to the Gulf War, there are many stories to be told about the veterans from their community! After learning about the specific history of each soldier, students could create and post, with the permission of the cemetary, a laminated sign next to the flag at each military grave. These signs could contain information about the soldier buried in each grave and a photo (if one was discovered during the research) to help educate people in the community about the military contributions of those buried in the local graveyards.

2. Computer students could work with the history students and compile a list of all the soldiers buried in the local graveyards and compile a brief history about each soldier (name, age, military rank, medals earned, war they fought in, how they died, etc.). Once the information is compiled, the students could create a website that honors local veterans and teaches people in the community about the rich military history of the local community.

3. English and drama students could take the research gathered about each soldier by the history and computer students and develop Veterans Day tours through local graveyards. Students could write the script that each student tour guide would use to inform visitors about the military history of those buried in each graveyard. This would be a great way for students to develop and expand communication skills!

Visit any of these websites for more information about Veterans Day:

Department of Veterans Affairs
http://www.va.gov/index.htm

Home of Heroes
http://www.homeofheroes.com/

Celebrating America's Freedoms
http://www.va.gov:80/pubaff/celebAm/CAIndex.htm

Origins of Veterans Day
http://www.vfw.org/amesm/origins.shtml

Grant Opportunities provide additional project ideas >>