Hero Week 14

This week in class, you presented your Hero Projects.

Thank you to those of you who brought your completed projects and displayed/presented them to us. It is so worth your time and effort to complete this assignment!

I hope that Benjamin and Adam will bring theirs to show us next week in completed form.  :-)

Matthew and Archie, doing this project is GOOD for your character, regardless of dog tags awarded. Please do it on your own time, so you can keep it and refer to it for inspiration throughout your lives!

General Schmieder also prepared an activity for us to help us remember the fallen of the Holocaust. No matter how much we read about and study this event, it still hurts us at the core to realize the humiliating, debasing and shameful treatment so many received at the hands of mad men in the Nazi regime. It is so important to remember this people's experience, so that we can maintain our love and respect for ALL mankind, regardless of any differences we might have.

Looking forward to next week with all of you at the end of year class party at General Walk's, Thursday, 10 am.

Please remember to bring a snack to share, and your completed project to present (Benjamin and Adam).

Ciao!

Hero Week 13

Hello heroes!

Class was great last week!

We did a debrief of our Nuremberg Trial simulation, we had an amazing guest speaker, Adam's grandfather, and we learned what set the Hero Generation apart from others.

How do you think your generation is similar to and different from the Hero Generation of WWII?

Remember, this Thursday, MAY 5th  we have our Hero Project Presentations.

Please come PREPARED to share your projects! We are so excited to see the final products of what you have all labored so diligently on, and to celebrate with all of you!

See you Thursday...

Your Generals

Hero Week 12

Great job last Thursday, Heroes!

It was so FUN to watch you present what you had researched and prepared at our Nuremberg Simulation. The judges who participated gave you some very helpful feedback, and you were exceedingly respectful during the process. 

Thank you for your preparation and your good attitudes. You were AMAZING!

Next week, we will have 3 segments of class:

1)  A special guest will visit and present: Adam's grandpa, Fred Claridge. He will share with us his experiences during WWII.

Please bring prepared questions (written down is a great idea!) so you can ask him about his memories and recollections of that transformational period of American History.

2)  We will also have a chance to have you share with us the results of your interviews. So please have the video/notes/other records of those interviews so that you can show us what you learned.

3)  We will do a more in-depth debrief of the Nuremberg simulation we just finished. Please think about what you learned from the experience so you can share with us.

ALSO - please finish up your Hero Projects because you will be presenting them in class on May 5th.

We are excited to see you next week! Please, as always, email or call with questions!

-Generals Kellie(y)

Hero Week 10

Greetings Heroes!

Class last Thursday was great. We learned so much about the history of the end of WWII, the occupation of post-war Germany, and the War Crime Trials that took place in Europe and Japan.

You all did a wonderful job of taking notes. Your generals were very impressed! Keep up that habit. It will REALLY help you in your success in other classes you take, and other subjects you study. 

We discussed the upcoming Nuremberg Simulation (April 21st). You voted to try Rudolf Hess. Your teams are as follows:

Prosecution: Adam, Archie Hannah
Defense: Benjamin, Kaleigh, Matthew

Rudolf Hess was indicted for the following four charges.

1. Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of a crime against peace
2. Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace
3. War crimes
4. Crimes against humanity

In the interest of time, however, you are going to charge him on counts 1 and 4 (ignore counts 2 and 3 for our trial).

Your goal is to prove guilt or innocence (depending on which counsel you represent). This will take a lot of research on your part.

To help you in your preparation, understand the following:

1 - Crimes against peace refers to "planning, preparation, initiation, or waging of wars of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing".^[1] This definition of crimes against peace was first incorporated into the Nuremberg Principles and later included in the United Nations Charter.

2 - Crimes against Humanity are certain acts that are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population or an identifiable part of a population. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during peace or war.^[1] They are not isolated or sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy (although the perpetrators need not identify themselves with this policy) or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority. Murder; massacres;dehumanization; extermination; human experimentation; extrajudicial punishments; death squads; forced disappearances; military use of children; kidnappings; unjust imprisonment; slavery; cannibalism, torture; rape;political, racial, or religious persecution that may include the use of blasphemy laws or laws against defamation of religion or other similar wording, or inappropriate hate speech laws; and other inhumane acts may reach the threshold of crimes against humanity if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice.

You are encouraged to research more on both of these types of crime, so that you more fully understand just on what grounds you are prosecuting/defending.

Please get together with your team to research and prepare. Remember, on each team, during our simulation, one person should give the opening statement, one person should present the evidence, and one person should prepare the closing statement. 

If you are going to use evidence in the trial, you MUST submit the evidence to the opposing counsel and to your mentors/generals.

I know it seems like a lot, but you can do this!!!!!

In order to have time to prepare and order your dog tags, the hard deadline for all of your Hero Project assignments is April 14th.  This is because we have to order and have your prizes delivered by April 27th. The ONLY exception to the completed requirements, is that your Hero Project (compilation of all of your heroes) does not need to finished in its entirety; however, a SIGNIFICANT portion needs to be done, and you need to bring it to class to show it to your mentors.

The rest of the items that need to be done/turned in by that date are:

1 - Finish and discuss all three books

2 - Watch all three movies

3 - Conduct/record three interviews

4 - Complete all writing assignments (usually given as homework assignments)

5 - Complete all journal prompts

6 - Prepare Biography Presentation - these will be given on April 14th! So be ready!

7 - Show your Hero Project to your mentors (it doesn't have to be finished, but it needs to have a significant amount completed!!!)

Please email with any questions. I will email this to you as well as post it, so that you have two reminders, and hopefully your parents all see it as well.

Thank you heroes!

-Generals Walk and Schmieder

Hero Week 9

Hello Heroes!

General Schmieder is the bomb, right? And did she ever dish us some amazing info on Fat Man and Little Boy yesterday during class. Those PBS docs were astounding! Thank you General, for always broadening our understanding of the world with your amazing mentoring skills!

We also discussed Hiroshima yesterday, and agreed it was a graphic, heart-rending window into what it was like to experience the fallout of America's drastic move to end the war in the Pacific Theater.

Remember your homework:

Respond: "Should we have dropped the bomb?"

Also, keep working on your Hero Project, your 3 interviews, your biography oral presentation (10 minutes long, remember - due April 14) and all of your other requirements. They are in your binders, if you have forgotten....

As always, email or call with any questions. We are here to help you succeed!

REMEMBER:  everything is due April 14th to allow time to order awards.

Soldier on heroes! We believe in you!

-Generals Schmieder and Walk

Hero Week 8

Howdy Heroes!

Class today was awesome. Well....my lecture was a little long, but what do you expect when you have to fit in D-Day (France) through Germany's surrender!?!?!?!?

You all did brilliantly, and some of you took EXCELLENT notes! I love it! A big thank you to Benjamin for FURTHER fleshing out the lecture with more interesting details of this very important history.  :-)

We also talked about where you all are at with your interviews, and hyour hero project completion / progress as well.

REMEMBER: the absolute deadline is APRIL 14TH! This is a revised deadline, due to the ordering constraints of the website where we will order the dogtags.

One month is PLENTY of time for you all to complete your assignments: especially if you are doing a little bit every day!

Please contact me with other questions, and let me know if you have any concerns.

ASSIGNMENTS FOR THIS WEEK

- Finish Hiroshima - book discussion next week
- Write about "What level of impact is possible for one person to achieve?"
- Write your journal prompt "When is it right to fight for the freedom of another country?"
- Work on your interviews
- Work on your Hero Project - make it visually appealling!!!!

Email or call with questions.

See you all next week when the Fabulous General Schmeider is teaching!

Hero Week 7

Class this week was awesome!

I know I say this all the time, but maybe that is because it always is!

General Schmeider did an amazing job bringing Pearl Harbor to life. THANK YOU GENERAL! The sim she designed was so engrossing. It was incredible to witness the amount of damage inflicted on the unsuspecting seamen and airmen of the service. So many sacrifices and feats of incredible courage were committed by our forces during that fateful day. I think of the bravery and hope that I would have a even a fraction of it in similar circumstances.

My family went to Bremerton on Friday, to visit the Puget Sound Naval Museum. While there I learned that at the the Puget Sound ShipYard served as the principal repair facility for the U.S. battleships that were damaged and sunk at Pearl Harbor. Five of the six surviving battleships (Tennessee, Califronia, West Virginia, Maryland and Nevada) were named the "Pearl Harbor Ghosts" because the Japanese had declared them all sunk. But, in addition to repairing them for service, the Shipyard workers built 52 more ships and overhauled/repaired/fitted out over 400 warships during WWII.

Incredible, right? Who knew our local Pacific NorthWest heritage was so important and integral to helping defeat our foes in WWII? I know, Benjamin is probably shouting..."I did!"  And good for him too, history buff that he is!  :-)

For this week:

Assignments:
**Finish Hiroshima - discussion is in 1 1/2 weeks!
**Conduct/record your interviews
**Work on your Hero Projects!
**PREPARE to SHARE experiences from your interviews (if done) or about what you have done so far to set up or prepare for your interviews. YOU WILL BE SHARING THIS WITH US IN CLASS NEXT WEEK!!!!

As always, call, text, or email with any questions. We are here for you.

Thank you Heroes! See you on Thursday!