| Winter 2011, No. 52 |
 |
|
ContentsRandom House Book Fair Set for Saturday, March 5, 2011 College Prepares for Middle States Team Visit in April Carroll Students Mentor Shiloh Middle School Students History Class Inspires Students to Go Above and Beyond F.S. Key Senior and Concurrent Student Earns Two College Degrees
|
|
|
||
| History Class Inspires Students to Go Above and Beyond | ||
|
||
|
Faculty members agree that when students successfully complete a course it can be gratifying. When students go above and beyond the expectations of the course and apply classroom learning to their own lives, it can be inspiring. In fall 2010, Dr. Robert Young experienced such inspiration. Young is assistant professor of History and chair of the Department of Humanities. The course he taught which proved to be especially engaging to several of his students was "The Great War and the Twenty-Year Truce." The elective course is primarily about World War I and what's called the "Interwar Period," the years between its end and the start of World War II. Several students not only excelled with the assigned material, but went a step further to research, document, and present in class their own family histories related to the wars. They brought history to life for new generations. Taylor Howard and Kyle Merson, upon learning about World War I in Young's class, brought pictures, maps and a medal Kyle's grandfather received during his service in World War I to share with other students. Their presentation inspired a fellow classmate, Jack Norris IV, who is 74, to research his own father's history. "Seeing that students were inspired by our research really gave back to us as well," said Howard. "You never realize how much something you do can impact someone else." "What's terrific about what these students have done is that none of it was a requirement for the class," said Young. "They did their research all on their own because their interest had been piqued. They took the basic storyline I was presenting and were intrigued enough to find out how those times had affected their own families. Sharing what they did with the rest of the class was special for everybody." Young calls himself a storyteller and works to hold students' interest, which becomes more important every year as the number of distractions students have multiplies with technology. "I want students to make connections between the past and today," said Young. "I am always happiest when we're talking about something and students notice that we have the same issue today," said Young. Such a connection to the past was made by Norris, who said he admires Young's total dedication and ability. "Dr. Young is like an orchestra conductor bringing the best in all of us to the forefront," said Norris. Young has taught at Carroll for fifteen years. He was named the college's 2010 Outstanding Faculty Member. Young's Ph.D. in history is from the University of Maryland, College Park. The enthusiasm of Norris' classmates Howard and Merson triggered a desire for Norris to know where his own father had served overseas during the war. According to an article in the Carroll County Times, Norris first contacted the National Personnel Records center in St. Louis. He found his father's military records were destroyed in a 1973 fire. The Carroll County Times article further describes how Norris started searching his father's name with all kinds of combinations of military terms on the Internet, and through a stroke of luck, he found his father's complete service record and his 1917 draft registration card through the website www.ancestry.com. Norris combined the documents and photos with his notes from the class about causes of World War I and made a 47-page publication. "I had an obligation to my children and nephews to take a positive approach and commit myself to uncovering my father's World War I Army records. If I had not been in this class and with this specific instructor, there would be no publication and my Dad's legacy would have been lost forever," said Norris. Norris gave the original copy of his publication to the Carroll Community College Library so that others could enjoy this historical narrative. "The contents of the narrative provide a real insight into America's involvement in World War I, with my father's army assignments and pictures giving a personal local flavor to this important time in our country's history," said Norris.
|
||
|
||
|
