Bigfork

Friday, February 17, 2006

Rebecca Buffington
   Bigfork High School

“I loved doing this project,” said Bigfork’s Rebecca Buffington. “It was much more interesting and fun than the 20-page research paper on global warming that I just finished for another class.”

When Rebecca’s teacher, Mary Sullivan, assigned the class a research project, Rebecca was pretty sure she knew what she wanted to focus on. Her mother’s family possessed letters that her grandparents wrote to each other during World War II. The problem was getting those letters.

The letters are precious family heirlooms. They’re kept in a safety deposit box in Seattle where Rebecca’s aunt lives. When Rebecca’s mother called her sister to see about using the letters for a research project, she “didn’t want to give them up,” Rebecca said. “She didn’t entirely trust me with the letters. My mom talked her into it by telling her that this wasn’t some Mickey Mouse project, that this was real research. My aunt sent us copies of the letters.”

“The letters were wonderful,” Rebecca said. “I never met my grandfather, and now I feel like I know him a little. I knew my grandmother—she died a few years ago—but I obviously didn’t know her as a young woman in love. The letters gave a whole new dimension to the grandma I grew up with.”

“What I liked about these letters is that they were personal love letters instead of letters about battles. I found out that war is not just about the fighting. There’s a personal level, too. War is also about people and relationships.”

Rebecca wrote her essay with classmate Brooke Andrus. “I couldn’t have done this project without Brooke. She writes faster than I do so she took a lot of notes. We went through all of the letters to figure out the focus of our paper, and then we had to do quite a lot of research about what was going on in the world at that time. Most of that research didn’t make it into our paper but believe me, we did it.”

Rebecca learned something about letters during her project. “Families really appreciate having them, and they also add to the historical record. You can add a personal aspect or insight to big, or not so big, events. I’d encourage people to write and save letters.” And Rebecca practices what she preaches. She still has the notes she passed to her friends in seventh grade.

Rebecca’s and Brooke’s essay: Love Letters from War

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Claire Stanfill
   Bigfork High School

Claire Stanfill is currently a senior attending Bigfork High School. Upon graduation, Claire plans to attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she will study physical therapy as well as dance. In Claire’s essay, “Their Legacy Living through Letters,” she analyzed and interpreted a collection of war letters written home from Vietnam by Marine Captain Robert (Bob) Reed to his wife Virginia (Ginny). In addition to reading this collection of over 200 letters and researching the Vietnam era, Claire also conducted extensive interviews with Mr. and Mrs. Reed, the writer and recipient of the letters. Her essay was scored highest statewide, in large part because of the skill and sensitivity with which she discussed the difficult issues raised by the letters and interviews.

Claire’s essay: Their Legacy Living Through Letters

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Bigfork students honor veterans
   Bigfork High School

Bigfork High School students (Class of 2007) led by English teacher Mary Sullivan staged a Veterans Recognition Assembly on Friday, November 11, 2005 (Veterans Day). Students from the middle school and elementary school joined community members in the gymnasium, which was filled.

The program was introduced by Superintendent Russell Kinzer, and it included the posting of the colors by the Swan Valley Youth Academy and music by the Select Women’s Ensemble, directed by Michael Perez. Cameron Clayton and Britanny Brook played taps on their bugles. The powerpoints were created by Carly Hilley, Owen Roberts, and John White.

The program also featured Aftan Snyder as Master of Ceremonies and oral histories read by Cameron Clayton, Cassie Keller, Cassandra Galloway, John Butts, Stephani Shanahan, and Salena Jordan. (Oral histories of Eric Chester Isaacson, Eugene Lee, Rick Scott, Chaplain Donald Shea, Jason Varner, and Mary Amanda Hein Guffin). 

Korean War veteran Eugene Lee and his wife of 55 years approach the sign in table where students have a guest book. They were engaged a few days before he was drafted and married a few days before he left for war. Their son is on her left. Student greeters met veterans at the door and escorted them to their seats at the front of the auditorium.

Kara Levengood from KCFW television in Kalispel taped the program. Here she interviews Rick Scott, Vietnam War veteran.

John Butts reads the Oral History of Chaplain Major General Donald Shea. The poppies students are wearing were passed out before the Assembly by members of the VFW.

Veterans from the Lake View Care Center were brought to the high school so they could enjoy the program.

Ashley Oppel recites the poem, “Gold Star Mother” by Jim Soular, following the presentation of roses to a Gold Star Mother.

Communities, like other forms of human relationship, take their character from the things people remember and the things they promise. In remembering and promising, people link the past and the future to the present. Ceremonies and rituals are important ways young people are brought into a culture’s sense of memory and aspiration.

Further thoughts.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Students read at Festival of the Book
   Montana Heritage Project

2005 Montana Festival of the Book
Saturday morning, September 24, 2005
The Next Generation of Montana Writers

Remarks by Christa Umphrey
formerly a high school English teacher in Ronan and currently a graduate student at the University of Montana

Good morning. I have the great privilege to tell you about the Montana Heritage Project and our relationship to the Montana Festival of the Book—and Montana literature and then to introduce you to three Montana scholars—our next generation of Montana writers.

The Montana Heritage Project is a program established by the Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation and administratively attached to the Montana Historical Society. It engages high school students and teachers in rural Montana schools in a study of place and community—their places and their communities--through primary source research, oral interviewing, a study of our region’s literature and the context it sets for us, and through field trips—trips to visit the places and people students study. The Montana Committee for the Humanities, the Library of Congress, the Office of Public Instruction, the Montana Historical Society, and many community organizations are our partners in this work.

Students in Libby, Ronan, Corvallis, Polson, Bigfork, Chester, Simms, Centerville, Great Falls, Townsend, Fairfield, Brady-Dutton, Whitefish, Gardiner, Roundup, Harlowton, and White Sulphur Springs have the opportunity to explore topics that were important to their communities historically or right now, to conduct research, to reflect on what they’ve learned, and to give back to their communities and the state gifts of scholarship.

Students prepare many different gifts: programs, books, research finding aids, museum tours, National Register nominations. And all those gifts require them to gather real knowledge and then to write clearly and succinctly about what they have learned. Hence, the Project emphasizes great writing and the clear thinking that great writing needs.

We believe that the depth of our emphasis on clear thinking and great writing is, in fact, producing Montana’s next generation of renowned writers—continuing Montana’s uncanny tradition of applying the written word with eloquence and honesty to an understanding and appreciation of this place.

Today it is my privilege to introduce three students whose writing from the 2004-2005 school year was judged—by their teachers, by Project staff, and by outside reviewers—among the best of many submissions. We all found that reading this work renewed and refreshed our belief in the great caliber of work that young people can do.

Claire Stanfill is currently a senior attending Bigfork High School. Upon graduation, Claire plans to attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she will study physical therapy as well as dance. In Claire’s essay, “Their Legacy Living through Letters,” she analyzed and interpreted a collection of war letters written home from Vietnam by Marine Captain Robert (Bob) Reed to his wife Virginia (Ginny). In addition to reading this collection of over 200 letters and researching the Vietnam era, Claire also conducted extensive interviews with Mr. and Mrs. Reed, the writer and recipient of the letters. Her essay was scored highest statewide, in large part because of the skill and sensitivity with which she discussed the difficult issues raised by the letters and interviews.

Britney Maddox was born in Olympia, Washington on March 23, 1988.  She currently is attending Ronan High School and lives with her mom and brother in Pablo.  Britney hopes to pursue a career in writing and other fine arts. The piece Britney is sharing today-- “ My Oma’s Story” --was crafted from an oral history interview with her grandmother Else, her “Oma,” recounting the horrors of her childhood in Romania, Germany, and Poland during World War II.  The essay weaves a compelling tale drawn from family history into the larger canvas of the War in Europe.

Cassie Vandenbos was born in Polson, MT.  She has two brothers.  She moved to Fort Shaw, Montana when she was three and is currently a senior at Simms High School where she is a member of National Student Council.  Cassie has received all-state and all-conference awards in basketball, as well as being voted all-conference in volleyball. She also plays on the fast pitch softball team and enjoys competing on her horse in o-mok-sees. To write “Paving for Prosperity?” Cassie studied the ways improvements to Highway 200 impacted the Sun River Valley through the 20th century. Her essay poses fundamental questions about the losses and gains of economic development by analyzing the fate of individuals and businesses in the Sun River Valley.

Friday, November 12, 2004

5th annual Bigfork Veterans Assembly (November 11, 2004)
   Bigfork High School

The Veterans Assembly on Veterans Day has become an important community tradition in the five years Mary Sullivan’s classes have been doing them. It gets richer each year. The consumer science class provides cookies and punch, and the English class provides oral histories. This year’s event was heralded by a front page story in The Missoulian which may have boosted attendance by veterans and community members.

The program gives students chances to use their talents--Alyssa Hands played taps on the bugle; and Kyla Browning, Quinn Butterfield, Bettreena Jaeger, and Ross Holcomb sang “Land That We Love” accompanied on the piano by Carmen Fenn.  Brooke Andrus had a chance to share and develop her considerable poise and charm as master of ceremonies. The Swan Valley Youth Academy demonstrated their precision marching by posting the colors. Summerlee Luckow and Cayla Fox designed attractive programs, which included on the back a list of the 56 oral interviews completed in the Veterans History Project over the past five years.

Each year, new views are added to the oral history collection. This year, two Gold Star Mothers were recognized at the assembly and students will search out Gold Star mothers to interview. Last year’s students interviewed conscientious objectors.

Throughout the program, the attention to detail is apparent: a well-decorated setting, well-prepared students, students in the parking lot directing traffic, student greeters meeting veterans at the door to escort them to their places, students at a table with guest book to invite signatures, and students with still and video cameras quietly fulfilling their assignments.

The parents of Bigfork High School graduate Matthew Saltz, who was Montana’s first casuality in the Iraq War, watch a Powerpoint memorial for Matt. It was the highlight of the program, a vivid example of what a powerful medium Powerpoint can be. I love to see these tools used to commemorate important events. Surely this is what they are for. If you wonder whether anything important is happening, click on the photo to enlarge it, then look at the faces of those kids. The format was simple--images of Matt with “Remember Me” playing on the sound track--but the production became a powerful event in the community’s history. Taken together, the images form an understated message about what matters in this culture, simply because they are images Matt and his family and friends chose to record: Matt smiling with friends, Matt at work and play, Matt in his firefighter and army uniforms. The slide show was a powerful message: have friends, work hard, learn to be good at things, set high goals, take your duty seriously. Quote from Matt: “We didn’t need people to believe in us, because we believed in ourselves.”

The Bigfork High School Band, directed by Doug Peters, opened the assembly with the Star Spangled Banner. The gym was packed. The assembly was reasonably brief, easily fitting into a school period, and the program included three musical numbers to keep the energy high.

Alyssa Hands reads an oral history of Kenneth Caverly. Each of the six junior classes read a one 1-page oral history of a veteran. The entire program was scripted. Students were dressed up and knew what they were doing at each moment. Even the transitions between parts of the program were planned, with gracious statements from the student speakers. For example, at the end of the program, the Master of Cernmonies (Brooke Andrus) said, “Would veterans and community members please remain seated while students file out.” Every detail seemed anticipated and planned for, which gave the event an orderly and elegant tone.

Midway through the program, the high school band played each of the four service songs. Veterans were invited to stand when their song was played (the Marines got the most applause). The Missoulian noted that through oral interview projects students learn there’s “an unknown depth behind the most familiar faces.”

“Nobody’s ever asked us about it,” said a Bigfork veteran interviewed about the Project by the Missoulian. “It feels good to be asked.

I thought of the line from Yeats’ Adam’s Curse: “we must labour to be beautiful.” The link between beauty and work seems worth more than a passing thought. Building on my own thoughts on teaching and beauty at Libby, it occurred to me watching this program how much students learn from Mary’s insistence that these events be beautifully done (I contrast this with the last school I worked at, where the unofficial motto for everything was “that’s good enough,” and where everything tended toward shabbiness).

Leaving the assembly, I felt that strange combination of hope and sadness that beauty often triggers--hope because we glimpse the realm from which beauty emerges and to which it is native, so we know that the better world we dream of really does exist, and sadness because for now it is momentary, the beauty unforming as it is formed.