English project turns into Sullivan Museum exhibit

The best way for students to learn and become more interested in what they are learning about is to teach them in a "hands-on" atmosphere; this was the reasoning behind a unique World War II project, according to a Norwich English professor.

Karen Stewart, a Norwich English professor was helping clean out her parent's basement when she came across an old popcorn maker box. This box caught her interest because it should have been empty but had objects rattling inside.

When she opened the box, she found World War II artifacts and a lot of Nazi paraphernalia as well as a diary, from her father's service in World War II.

Stewart said "my father was a tech-sergeant in World War II, a rank that doesn't exist anymore; I guess you can call him a medic now." 

Stewart explained that she brought these objects to her students for "that connection of, ‘wow somebody actually living wore this, probably is dead now. I wonder what happened to them, never will know,' I thought that this would be a useful experience for students."

The assignment was for students to select an item and write several drafts about it. The first draft was the student's reaction to their object, what they saw, smelt, the texture, the reason they selected it and any opinion they had on it.

The second draft involved some research about what their object was and where it was from. The third draft was the same as the second but also had the requirement of the more in depth and less personal research.

When Stewart brought the items in she was careful about how she distributed them. "I didn't hand them I out, I put them on the table because I thought it was important for people to choose their own (artifact)."

Stewart stated that among all the items, "there were Nazi Germany metals of honor, belt buckles, SS insignia, packets of postcards, maps for tourists and tourist guides," for students to choose from.

Max Regan a 19–year-old freshman majoring in computer security from Lowell, Mass., said "I thought (this project) was very interesting, just relating an item from the past into a teacher's life and what it could mean at Norwich."

Regan selected "a book of postcards dating from around the World War II era in Paris, France."

After the research portion of this project he said that he "learned that in Paris at the time things were very standard, they only had a few very certain types of automobiles. They almost had they're own distinct culture at the time."

Scott Yashinski a 19- year-old freshman majoring in civil engineering from Kintnersville, Pa. said that he chose a map of the metro system in Paris, France for his item.

"Since my major is civil engineering, I learned about how (the metro systems) have gotten better over the years, how things have changed," Yashinski said.

Yashinski wrote about the development and changes that the metro system has undertaken since the time of World War II.

"I thought it was interesting how it was more complex there were more unnecessary routes back then there is now. It was also made much more simply as it grew older" he said.

Patrick LeClerc an 18-year-old freshman majoring in criminal justice from North Grosvenordale, Conn. chose "'The Stars and Stripes' newspaper article about the liberation of Paris."

‘The Star and Stripes' is not typically distributed to civilians; it is written and designed for the men and women in the military services. It reports major events, weather, and has specific news for different countries.

"I thought it was fascinating because I like history and everything so it was fun to research further into it," Leclerc said.  "I learned more from the first hand information about the liberation of Paris. It felt like a piece of history in your hands."

Stewart allowed students to take these artifacts home with them and then offered students the opportunity to contribute their writing and artifact to the Sullivan History Museum.

 "I think the student writings (in the Sullivan Museum) are powerful, whether (the student) saw their own or other students got to see it. Just the fact that they see it and think people here, at Norwich wrote this and I get to read it and here it is in the museum is encouraging," Stewart said.

According to Stewart, she chose to allow this hands-on experience because neither her mother nor sister wanted those items in their house.

The only real value they held to her was "that they gave a kind of tangible sense of, ‘Oh yeah, my Dad was in a war'."

She offered to allow the donation of the items to the museum.

 "My father's artifacts have a resting place that they probably wouldn't have had otherwise and that's a really nice thing to have," Stewart said.