I'd like to propose a session that focuses on local histories through the use of newspapers and archival research in the high school and/or college classrooms. If this is too specific it could be open to librarians and archivists who assist or use newspapers to craft their papers or assignments.
I would like to hold the session to start a conversation and learn how others are incorporating local history into their classrooms and into their assignments to increase student understanding and engagement. For the last four years, I have used our local newspaper the Haddon Gazette in Haddonfield, New Jersey for the students in Advanced Placement and College Prep classes to research and to explain the ways our community contributed to helping during WWI and WWII. I believe this to be a valuable exercise for teaching students the skills that historians use daily, as well as furthering their understanding of the community at large.
I hope to further these skills to develop a course that examines major events in our community, like the Centennial Celebration of our high school and Haddonfield's contributions to history from 1682 to the present.
Please email me if you are interested.
Sincerely,
David Reader
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David Reader
Haddonfield Memorial High School
Haddonfield NJ
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