About the project
This project began during the 2017-18 school year when Baker Middle School history teachers decided to make the learning meaningful to students and make a connection to their world in the studies. Surrounding the study of the Civil War, origins of Memorial Day, and the general sacrifice of those that have gone before, the first step was the creation of the Bayerd Wilkeson Map and research in May 2018.
Being moved by the unimaginable pain of a son’s death and inspired by Abraham Lincoln’s words in the Gettysburg Address, the 8th grade students at Baker Middle School in Troy, MI, created the Michigan version the Bayard Wilkeson Project. The project originally began at Grants Pass MS in Oregon and has been continued here. In memory of “these honored dead”, these middle school historians worked to honor the 230 soldiers from Michigan that have died in Afghanistan and Iraq since 9/11/01 so that Michiganders know that they “shall not have died in vain.” The Bayard Wilkeson Project interactive map has information of each fallen Michigander and a hyperlink to each soldier’s obituary. Students will remember that so we “take increased devotion to that cause for which they her gave the last full measure of devotion.”
The map linked below represents each Michigan soldier killed in action serving our country since 2001.
Being moved by the unimaginable pain of a son’s death and inspired by Abraham Lincoln’s words in the Gettysburg Address, the 8th grade students at Baker Middle School in Troy, MI, created the Michigan version the Bayard Wilkeson Project. The project originally began at Grants Pass MS in Oregon and has been continued here. In memory of “these honored dead”, these middle school historians worked to honor the 230 soldiers from Michigan that have died in Afghanistan and Iraq since 9/11/01 so that Michiganders know that they “shall not have died in vain.” The Bayard Wilkeson Project interactive map has information of each fallen Michigander and a hyperlink to each soldier’s obituary. Students will remember that so we “take increased devotion to that cause for which they her gave the last full measure of devotion.”
The map linked below represents each Michigan soldier killed in action serving our country since 2001.
Baker MS Remembers Memorial Day |
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Veteran's histories
After the first year, the Baker staff and students began studying the Civil War and other American events from the point of view of soldiers who fought. We read soldier's letters home, explored motives, and evaluated their sacrifice. In the end we decided that the next logical step was to try to capture the stories of those that have served that are still living and don't often get the chance to share their stories with the world.
The students began to explore the process of "making and doing history" by recording their interviews so that they would be preserved for future generations and serve as a resource for people to use when studying conflicts and for those who would want to know what these people believed in.
The students began to explore the process of "making and doing history" by recording their interviews so that they would be preserved for future generations and serve as a resource for people to use when studying conflicts and for those who would want to know what these people believed in.
2019
The first installment of the Baker Veteran's History Project occurred on May 21 and 22, 2019. Veterans from all branches of service came in and sat down for interviews and shared their stories and time with groups of students. The interviews, along with pictures, are uploaded on the "veteran stories" section of the website.