Laurie Burns

Burns’ innovative teaching idea, “Heroes Forever,” is challenging students to compile interviews and oral histories from the veterans of the Blairstown community. Students will be tasked with interviewing veterans personally, utilizing technology resources to film and record interviews, as well as photographs and artifacts, and developing a comprehensive understanding of the historical context that surrounds their veterans. The students will then use these materials to collectively create a video and electronic archive of their community’s rich and personal war history. Burns believes that by historicizing the community’s own veterans in this manner, students are able to engage with an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to learning that encompasses technology, history, team-building, leadership and communication. The result, she believes, will be a unique and significant learning product for generations to come.