The War -- Capturing History

Capturing stories of The War.

The Young Writers Project wants to help you gather stories of World War II from relatives and neighbors.

Vermont Public Television (VPT) – and public television stations across the country – will be carrying a seven-part series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick on World War II. The series will air September 23 – October 3, with repeat broadcasts throughout the fall.

THE PROJECT YWP, with support from VPT and a community collaboration of local organizations, is seeking students and/or classrooms to engage in a special project associated with this series. YWP wants students to watch the series, do additional research on the war and then interview people they know – or people they find in their communities – who have stories to tell about their experiences during The War, either on the battlefield or on the home front.

The Young Writers Project, in cooperation with VPT, will then publish the best of that work on this Web site, on the VPT's Web site or in the National Archives.

TO ASSIST YOU The Young Writers Project has four video cameras and two digital audio recorders to loan to individual students or class groups for this project. YWP also will provide an editor to work with the students on a limited basis – at the beginning to introduce the idea and to go over some steps students should take. YWP also will provide feedback and editing suggestions at the end.

YWP can provide information for students and schools on interviewing techniques, using the digital equipment and on finding background information to assist in research. A special teacher's training manual and DVD can be obtained by calling Geoffrey Gevalt at 860-0570

In addition, VPT and PBS have considerable material to help students and classrooms in this and a host of other classroom initiatives. VPT can be reached online at vpt.org (Its WWII website launches on September 1); a special site on The War project is at www.pbs.org/thewar.

The Young Writers Project mission is to help students write better by engaging them in writing, helping them to learn how to improve their work and publishing their best work. A project like this helps students do research, listen to others and make critical choices as to how a story should be told.

CONTACT If you are interested in participating, contact Geoffrey Gevalt