Recently we have heard more than once that we are “living in an unprecedented time in history.” As students of history, we say, “bollocks to that!” There have been plenty of times where our nation has faced a crisis that seemed insurmountable yet somehow was able to make it through and be better for it. Often knowing this fact gives many comfort and hope when living through a crisis. But it’s hard to find that comfort and hope when your knowledge of the history of past crises is limited. So in service to bringing comfort and hope (and a little bit of knowledge), our 8th grade research project focused on learning about a past crisis and how that crisis became a defining moment for our country.
Research Question: How do moments of crisis challenge our democracy and the American Dream?
There are many times in history where the belief in America’s exceptionalism as a self-governed nation where hard work makes millionaires out of paupers has been challenged. From its beginning, American society has faced one crisis after another, and in these times of crises the country’s future was often uncertain. But out of these crises, expectations for our country’s exceptionalism changed and a new way of thinking emerged, with new rules and new goals. In other words, we have made it out of a crisis before and we will again, but our society will be different. Some say it is our adaptability to change that makes us stronger, makes us resilient, makes us better.
Our task was to research a moment of crisis in US history (1900 to present-ish) and find out how it changed our nation. We then took that research and created a short documentary film, allowing a broader audience to learn from our research. Click on the links below to see our results! (films will be added as they are received)
TOPIC: 9/11
Ciaran Chamberlain (807) presents
Nicole Bidun (804) and Ruby Hardwicke (804) present
Frances Byrne (804) and Marley Reiner (804) present
Andor Fisher (804) presents
Johnuel Fland (804) presents
Jake Goldblatt (804) and Tommy Wang (804) present
Sia Jumani (804) and Emma Ravikovitvh (804) present
Erin Micalizzi (807), Raina Qorri (807) and Menna Stephens Roll (807) present
Thomas Mintzberg (804) and Anand Schwabe (804) present
Naomi Moehn-Aguayo (807), Emma Sander (807) and Rebecca Hacker (804) present
Joline Pineda (807) and Alexis Vizcarrondo (807) present
Ella Wacks (807) presents
Emmanuel Weintraub (807) and Brett Samarel (804) present
TOPIC: 2008 Financial Crisis
Karl Gross (807) presents
TOPIC: Hurricane Katrina
Truman Mindt (807) and Eric Wittling (807) present
Amaya Taylor (807) presents
TOPIC: Vietnam
Ty Anant (804), Daniel Barschdorff (804) and Kaden Pollard (804) present
Michelle Berman (804), Emely Nolasco (804) and Lia Lavielle (804) present
Lydia Cho (807), Kriti Devand (807) and Sumin Shin (807) present
Jacob Dresner (807) presents
TOPIC: WWII
Andrew Berry (804, Anton Lesokhin (807) and Sarp Kologlu (804) present
Oliver Bares (804) presents
Ava Klein (804) presents
Jaden Pace (807), William Morrill (804) and Benjamin Wang (804) present
Matthew Schneider (804) presents
Michael Todd (807) presents
TOPIC: 1918 Flu Pandemic
Jordan Craig (804) and Anouk Coste-Duval (807) present
Destiny Flowers (804) and Irenis Guzman (807) present
Nicolas Iontosca (804) presents
Andrei Karlin (807) presents
Anna Giulia Polli (804) presents
Adamari Rodriguez (807) and Monea Ross (807) present
Freya Rowberry (807) presents
Jazz Saban-Vaughn (807) presents
Logan Spaleta (804) presents