History & Humanity: How Two New Hampshire Educators Livened Up The Past for Students

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By Zachary Camenker, Board of Directors, New Hampshire Humanities

During the 2024-2025 school year, two educators were chosen by New Hampshire Humanities (NHH) for the inaugural Jere Daniell Public Humanities Teacher Fellowship. Cassandra Doore and Mallory Langkau-Gross were selected by NHH in the summer of 2024 following an extensive interview process of numerous applicants from all across the state. Doore, a humanities teacher at Barrington Middle School, and Langkau-Gross, a social studies teacher and assistant principal at Groveton High School, each worked on a year-long project that focused on a past moment in history. Their fellowships both relied on local resources, New Hampshire historians, and extensive research that allowed students to see the past come alive before them in the present moment.

Doore’s unit on refugees and the history of human movement began with guest speaker Kati Preston, a local Holocaust survivor who speaks frequently around the state and has done advocacy work for genocide education at the New Hampshire State House. This was a very deliberate decision as it allowed students to begin exploring human migration and the reasons that people seek refuge outside of their home countries. 

Following Preston’s visit, Doore’s students began reading Alan Gratz’s acclaimed young adult novel Refugee, which details three people escaping their dangerous homelands from different parts of the world during a variety of time periods. The themes of character safety, time, and conflict were explored in depth, culminating in a research project about refugees coming to the United States or life in refugee camps around the world. 

 Doore explained that these options allowed students to interview people from the refugee community, which included lawyers, resettlement organization leaders, and refugees who were now citizens. They then created podcasts that they could share with the class. Finally, there was a curriculum night where students were able to showcase their projects to parents and members of the local community. This also allowed for interdisciplinary work to occur, one example being an environmental science class that was focusing on how major storms could affect migration. Two local young adults spoke about their own experience as refugees leaving unsafe places, and the successful career paths they have forged in the U.S.

“Working with New Hampshire Humanities for the year was a fabulous experience,” Doore said when asked about the fellowship. “I loved our monthly meetings because I was able to throw ideas around and get feedback right away, as well as…have access to all the people and resources that NHH has, which made the unit much more effective.”

All along, Mallory Langkau-Gross wanted her students to do the work of historians by contextualizing local history. Having completed numerous professional development opportunities for social studies teachers during her career, she made connecting local history a big priority for her students.

Relying heavily on school yearbooks from various decades, Langkau-Gross had students analyze these resources as primary sources, which allowed the material to act as an artifact that informed decision making. By using the Groveton High School yearbooks as a common thread, she felt that students were able to develop more connections.

As the school year began, Langkau-Gross taught students how to read artifacts by looking at World War II materials. By January, students were able to dive deeper into local history by visiting the New Hampshire State House and the New Hampshire Historical Society (NHHS). NHHS Director of Programs Elizabeth Dubrulle, who also serves as Vice Chair of the NHH Board, welcomed Groveton High at the Historical Society where students from this rural area in Northern New Hampshire got to experience culture beyond their small community. When applying for the fellowship, this was another top priority for Langkau-Gross.

In February, contextual research began for the students as Langkau-Gross now felt that her classes were ready to analyze the yearbooks. By assigning different decades, a variety of outcomes were reached with this assignment. This was a precursor to students constructing exhibit displays with artifacts and primary sources at the Jefferson Historical Society. The Groveton students further accomplished Langkau-Gross’ goal by traveling to Jefferson in April for the Smithsonian’s Crossroads exhibit on change in rural America. This activity was very relevant for them as it related directly to the rural area where they live. They were then ultimately able to do a “Yearbooks Through the Decades” display at their school for parents and community members, much in the same way as the other fellowship project.

Langkau-Gross also felt that reflecting on the experience with NHH during the school year was a valuable part of the project’s scope. By the end, as she assessed her project’s outcomes, she felt that her rural students had benefited tremendously from better understanding local history that relates so closely to their lives.

Both educational projects are the first in what New Hampshire Humanities hopes is a bright future in connecting with teachers from all over the state. The ways that Cassandra Doore and Mallory Langkau-Gross made history come alive for their humanities students in middle and high school should inspire all Granite Staters who wish only the best for the future.

 

Zachary Camenker is a member of the English faculty in the Bedford School District as an English Language Learner Teacher. He serves on the Board of Directors for New Hampshire Humanities and on the steering committee for the New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival. Zach has also taught English to refugees, immigrants, and new Americans at Second Start, and serves on the steering committee for the annual statewide New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival. He has written for the Jewish Reporter, New Hampshire Bulletin, St. Paul's School, and Red River Theatres. Zach received a B.A. in English and Secondary Education from Saint Anselm College, and earned his M.Ed. in Language Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Plymouth State University where he focused his studies on language teaching tools for native and nonnative speakers of English.