On a cold morning in early December 41 sophomore students gathered around a table of light breakfast before the journey ahead. They had all been prepped for this day for a few weeks now and after the long wait it was finally here. A few weeks before I had talked about this amazing museum not to far from their homes in Saint Louis Missouri. Only four hours away was the World War I museum at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City. The Liberty Memorial is a large park and memorial to the Veterans and fallen of WW1 from the Kansas City area that was finished in 1926. Since its opening the museum has become more and more of a National symbol of the "The Great War". In 2004 a museum opened underneath the memorial in a subterranean space. This museum houses thousands of artifacts from The Great War including exhibits about specific topics and a research wing. The expansive museum is staffed by volunteers who give guided tours of the facility and can answer any questions about the museum or the war itself. As a student of the University of Missouri-Kansas City I had visited the museum several times and spent hours looking at all the small pieces that made up The Great War. I remember being shocked and amazed at the expansive collection and the personal stories that were being told. I vowed that one day I would take my classes to experience those same feelings. In the fall of 2014 I had an opportunity to do just that. I called up the museum and was amazed at how easy it was to set up a group tour for my class. After I had everything set up I sold it to my classes. As any teacher will tell you students are always willing to get out of the traditional classroom environment for a whole day regardless of what it entails. I knew this, but still I was overwhelmed with the enthusiastic response from my students. Due to limited funds I could only take a maximum of 45 students and I told them I would take first come/ first serve. This challenge led to a mad rush to see who could turn it in first (I had students run out to their parents cars after school to have it signed and returned it before I left the same day!) This unexpected response made me very excited about the trip. Over the course of two weeks I received 41 permission slips to go on the trip. The trip itself would be an exhausting endeavor, leaving at 7:30am to take a four hour bus ride to Kansas City, spend four hours touring, and ending with another four hour trip back to Saint Louis, expected arrival time -- 8:30pm! The pictures below show much of the museum and the experiences by my students that day but for the most part the day can be characterized by smiles and hurried gestures for me to come see or explain some artifact that my students had found. In order to help organize and archive the event the trip embraced technology instead of rejected it. Students were encouraged to use smart phones to help research any questions they had, as well as social media such as "twitter" to compose tweets and take pictures of the day. The collection of photographs and experiences (see below) are something that would not be possible without technology and buy-in from many people. Technology helped the students review the large amount of information they were exposed to over the course of the day. A VERY long day for the students and the four faculty members who accompanied me but definitely a day that these students will remember forever, and as teachers is that not what we are supposed to do? Create experience that make a life-long impression? Do you really think that students are going to remember sitting in their desk and say to themselves, "gee wiz I am so happy we are sitting quietly today! WOO-HOO!" The days I remember from school were days of laughter, excitement, and innovation. So if you want to help your students connect with your content and create some excitement for those topics that you love so dearly explore the concept of letting your students explore and even maybe taking them on a trip. The WW1 Museum and Liberty memorial are very welcoming to class and school groups. Click here for more information - Educators & Students Page
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Brandon LewisMy name is Brandon Lewis and I am a high school history teacher in St. Louis Missouri. I practice the art of teaching at St. John Vianney High School. Archives
March 2016
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