Some BHS students connected with the past in a recent assignment.

Composition 1 students just completed the multi media presentation portion of their “Living History Projects.”

Students got to pick the person they did their project over. The only requirement was that the person must be at least one generation older than them.

Some of the people students chose included family members, family friends, and even coaches.

“I interviewed Mrs. Honomichl because I respect her a lot and I know she’s had a very accomplished life,” senior Katie Pattrick said.

The “Living History Project” consisted of several different elements that determined the students’ grades.

“Students are expected to interview a family member or community member who is at least one generation older (than them),” Butell-Huntoon said. “They write a 3-5 page profile capturing the spirit of the individual. Then, they create a 10-15 minute multi-media presentation incorporating the interview, photographs/artifacts from the interviewees life, and outside research of the historical events that shaped the individual.”

Once the students complete their presentation they formally present it to one of several different staff members.

“For the past two years, Mrs. Smith and I, with the help of Stacy Smith, Laura Beaulieu, and the Administration, planned several evenings where students formally present their projects to family and interviewees,” Butell-Huntoon said.

Students had mixed feelings about the project.

“I liked getting to know the person I interviewed better and learned a lot about them,” senior Kate Dixon said. “It was very stressful though trying to get everything that was required in the paper and presentation.”

As a teacher, Butell-Huntoon has the requirements and expectations the students must meet for their grade but she also hopes they take other things away from the project.

“First, I hope that students gain an appreciation for the rich lives of their interviewees, and that they gain a new perspective on their own lives,” Butell-Huntoon said. “Also, this project requires students to exercise skill in writing, research, media and speaking.”