In 2015 I was fortunate to join seventeen other teachers from across the United States to participate in a program meant to reinvigorate teaching about World War II in classrooms across the world.  Understanding Sacrifice is a joint project between the American Battle Monuments Commission, National History Day and the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM) at George Mason University. I researched Lt. John Anthony Boronko who served in the Mediterranean Theater as a C-47 pilot and developed a lesson plan showing how pilots’ souvenirs called short snorters help to document the experience of those who served.

Through the experience, I learned about the ways in which digital history is transforming the ways that researchers and the public can work together to collect, interpret and publish historical content across the world.  This year I began the process of obtaining my graduate certificate in Digital Public Humanities through George Mason University.  The two-year cycle will help me learn the best practices and tools in digital public history, and I will be able to practice those skills through an internship with the Smithsonian Associates.  Along the way I hope to be able to apply my learning in ways that will enrich my own classroom.

Follow along with me as I learn through my course blog.