The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Minimuseum tells WWII history
VERONA, N.Y. >> Eighteen years ago, Vernon-VeronaSherrill history teacher Todd Donnelly started a unique classroom project.
Donnelly challenged students in his U.S. History courses to create a small museumdedicated to World War II as part of an interdisciplinary approach to learning. Students were asked not only to focus on the outcome of battles and the grievous death toll of WWII, but to also report on popular culture, sporting, and the role of women during the significant time period.
Like many school projects, the initial WWII museum was smaller in size, but continued to gain momentum each year.
“It developed into a massive museum,” Donnelly said. “It’s a great interdisciplinary project.”
Now, in its 18th showing, the VVS Middle School WWII Museum encompasses five mini-museums, each headed by a student curator who directs a staff of peers in the construction of historic display. Roughly 90 students work together to create an enviable WWII collection of student research; showcase authentic WWII artifacts donated by members of the VVS community including sand from famous battle sites such as Omaha Beach, uniforms from several branches of the Armed Forces, helmets, bayonets, recruitment posters, newspaper clippings, dog tags, and even stones from Hitler’s fireplace; and interactive exhibits for museum goers.
Eighth grader Julia Felici was curator of one of the five museums. Her team’s exhibits focused on art and sports during the 1940s, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, weapons of war, and Operation Barbarossa. During the course of the project, Felici was struck by how life continued at home in the United States despite thousands leaving homes and jobs behind to fight in the war.
“Everybody was productive,” she said. “Women were still playing sports and working in the factory, keeping everything going.”
Across the hall, eighth grader Anna Rossi was showcasing her research on Fabryka Oskar Schindler. Rossi spent the better part of three weeks studying the life of the “Schindler’s List” namesake. Her analysis of Schindler was that “anything can happen.” Despite being immersed in heavy drinking and bribery, Schindler was able to flip the script.
“In an instant he turned his life around and save 1,200 people,” Rossi said, before turning her attention to the crowd of teachers, parents, and even upperclassmen who found their way back to the middle school to soak in some nostalgia. “It’s been interesting; they seem impressed.” Impressed, they were. “To get teenagers interested in something is a great thing,’ said Jennifer Lavesa-Cesana.
Curator Jacob Pawlika oversaw the museum that included an exhibit on the life of Adolf Hitler, which included different theories speculating how or if Hitler met his demise.
“I enjoy the conspiracy theory about Hitler,” Paw- lika said, adding that the debate centers largely on whether or not Hitler escaped Germany and fled to Argentina. In addition to helping others acquire research or materials for their exhibits, Pawlika also performed his own research into declassified documents regarding Hitler’s fate. When asked where he settled on the debate, the VVS middle schooler couldn’t commit.
“I’m not sure. There’s research proving both correct.”
In addition to putting on the massive interactive WWII Museum, students continued their collection