WWI School Presentation

I have been asked to do a paid presentation about WWI at a Grade school in Burlington!I did a presentation there two years ago, and this year at the end of the WWI segment, my presentation came up several times in the kids final reports. As a surprise to the kids the teacher has asked me to come back next week and do another one, with some hands on time with some of the artifacts. I am really looking forward to it. My goal last time was to spark some interest in Canadian military history and it looks like it worked!

Some pics of the first display I did two years ago and a little write up I did about it.


Well I did my first school display today. It was the kick off to the Grade 8 classes WWI section.
It was a very positive experience for both the kids and me. I tried to keep them involved, asking them questions, letting them handle some things and telling them about everything.
I tried to make my presentation more personal..the teacher can teach the who's, the how's and the why for's. My objective was to educate them on the men behind the uniforms and their personal experiences. Many of them stayed inside during recess to talk with me and students from other classes came in during recess to get a look and ask questions. When I was done the grade 5 class was allowed to come in and take a look and ask questions.
Throughout the presentation I had several teachers and parents come in, even the principal of the school came in to have a look.
It was well the work of packing, loading and setting up the collection.

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Hi Jeff, Well done. "Living history" through artefacts is a powerful teaching tool. It gets right through to the students and makes "text" book history real. Your time and effort is well worth it.
I used to take a small box of my Grandfathers souvenirs into my classes. It included his medals, badges, some paperwork, but most importantly, there were three pieces of shrapnel, including one nasty looking piece that entered his hip/buttock area and passed down coming out behind the femur above the knee. Lucky on two counts, the wound was a "blighty" and it didn't hit the femur. Telling his story to the students was a day that the room was dead silent and there was focus and understanding.
I am surprised they let you bring weapons in the school. It was "verbotten" when I asked to do the same a few years ago. The compromise was to have the students go to the Armouries and see some modern hardware.

Very excellent! Having just packed up most of my collection in preparation for a move I can empathise with the work that you went into to share with these kids!
Some lucky students there...I am not so fondly remembering high school history class where my 'teacher' well into his tenure had long since given up caring about engaging students and resorted to overhead-note-pages – needless to say my passion for Canadian military history was not sparked in the classroom. I hope that it will be different for these kids.
I do not know about the rest of the collecting community but I love things just like Jeff has done here to engage others who may not have the knowledge...with these items we are custodians of history, I like to share, Lest We Forget.

Good Job Jeff!

Thanks guys! I really enjoy taking my collection out to the public and putting it on display. There is no sense on it only being enjoyed by me. My goal during the school presentation was to spark interest in at least one kid, I guess I met that goal having been invited back.
It is a lot of work and after having done that feature museum display in November, I swore I wasn't going to do another one until next year, but I didn't even hesitate to agree to this one.
If anyone has any suggestions for my presentation please let me know. I try to keep it as personal as possible but also throw in some facts and figures that the kids would find interesting also.

As for the weapons in the school, this is a private school. I was told they have more leeway in their policies than public schools. The principal insisted I bring the Enfield because he wanted to see it.LOL! I do admit to being nervous entering the school with the gun case, though.

Hello Jeff;

I am certain that there was a lot of interest. I think it's pretty nice to share our hobby with others who know little about that great passion.

Cheers
Pierre

Very nice display and congratulations on the invite back.
I did the same sort of show several years ago at a school near North Bay. I expected to be there for a couple of hours and ended up spending the whole day - had to kick the students out for lunch because they would have stayed.
I was amazed at the quality and intelligence of their questions.
Again, well done and let us know how the next one goes.

Fantastic Display...... It is the best way to teach history......

Had to chuckle though...... Battle Dress, Tin Lid, SMLE 303, Shorts and Running Shoes..... LOL

Mike