LEARN NC, an outreach arm of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Education, has been chosen to create lesson plans and other teaching materials for middle school and high school students learning about World War I.
The $357,000 initiative is funded by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), a government agency that establishes and maintains cemeteries and war memorials in countries where American armed forces have served. The partnership, a first of its kind for the ABMC, was created in advance of the 2014 centennial commemorating the start of World War I. The project will focus on developing materials about the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery at Verdun, France.
“The ABMC was created because of World War I, a war that changed not only the history of our country, but the history of the world,” said Max Cleland, secretary of the ABMC. “This is a great opportunity to introduce American children to all those we honor at our World War I overseas cemeteries.”
Project partners include LEARN NC, Virginia Tech’s School of Education and a team of teachers from 12 middle schools and high schools in North Carolina and Virginia who will conduct the research and help create the teaching materials. A faculty member from Sweet Briar College in Virginia and another from Piedmont Virginia Community College-Albemarle are also involved.
More information: http://soe.unc.edu/news_events/news/2013/130905-learn-ww1.php .
School of Education contact: Mike Hobbs, (919) 962-8687, michael_hobbs@unc.edu