MANDATA — A Line Mountain High School social studies teacher is developing a curriculum for secondary school students visiting the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville.
Hannah Walter was asked to participate in curriculum writing for the Patriot Memorial Park, Line Mountain District Superintendent David Campbell said.
“It’s just me on the project,” Walter said. “A friend of mine and her family visited the 9/11 Memorial this summer. She had a moment where she talked to the man in charge of the Park Foundation. He was hoping to get a curriculum together to help educate kids on what those times were about. My friend told the foundation member what she knew of a good history teacher — it turned out to be me. That is how I got involved in the project.”
Walter noted that she and other educators around the state, “are in the beginner stage of the project. The first thing we’ve done is ask other social studies teachers where they stand on this idea; what would they like to see, in terms of an educational presentation or materials.”
Walter has met with Park Foundation officials and asked what they’d like to see as part of a curriculum built around the events of 9/11 and post-9/11.
The foundation is looking for a curriculum for sixth through 12th grade students, Walter said. There will be two different curricula: one from sixth to ninth grade, and the other for ninth to 12th grade students.
The educational materials in development would be provided in the visitor’s area of the memorial.
Walter is doing all this work by herself in her free time.
“It’s a private project, but I would like to get some of my honors students involved, those from my U.S. history class next semester,” she said.
Another aspect of the project is interviewing veterans who were involved in the war on terror and the Middle East.
