CB East's Chris Johnson's Delivers Eulogy in Luxembourg for Fallen WWII Hero
Central Bucks High School East teacher Chris Johnson spent the last year researching the life and service of Staff Sergeant Charles F. Simcox as part of the Understanding Sacrifice program. In honor of Veterans Day, Mr. Johnson’s eulogy for Staff Sergeant Charles F. Simcox and lesson plan inspired by the Fallen Hero, Decisions in Postwar America: Remembrance of our Nation’s Fallen Heroes, will be published on ABMCEducation.org. The 2019 Understanding Sacrifice program is a partnership between National History Day® and the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). This year-long professional development program is centered around Fallen Heroes of World War II who are buried or memorialized at ABMC cemeteries in Europe.
In July 2019, Johnson joined seven other teachers and two ABMC personnel program participants as they traveled to France and Luxembourg to walk in the footsteps of history. Using their research, teachers created lesson plans, Fallen Hero profiles, and eulogies now published on the award-winning ABMCEducation.org. Designed to reinvigorate the study of World War II in American classrooms, the lesson plans are multi-disciplinary. Using primary and secondary sources, videos, and hands-on activities, students are transported to the past to gain a vivid understanding of the high cost paid by all Americans during this war.
“This partnership with the American Battle Monuments Commission allowed us to take eight extraordinary educators and two ABMC staff members to several of the hallowed battlefields and memorials of Europe,” said National History Day Executive Director Dr. Cathy Gorn. “Their unique experiences will now help teachers around the world bring history to life with the materials they added to ABMCeducation.org.”
Each lesson plan is based on solid scholarship, integrated with Common Core Standards, and makes use of interpretive materials provided by ABMC. They are accompanied by research about Fallen Heroes of World War II who are honored at ABMC cemeteries in Europe.
About National History Day®:
NHD is a non-profit organization based in College Park, Maryland, which seeks to improve the teaching and learning of history. The National History Day Contest was established in 1974 and currently engages more than half a million students every year in conducting original research on historical topics of interest. Students present their research as a documentary, exhibit, paper, performance, or website. Projects compete first at the local and affiliate levels, where the top entries are invited to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park. NHD is sponsored in part by, HISTORY®, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Park Service, Southwest Airlines, the Crown Family Foundation, The Better Angels Society, and the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation. For more information, visit nhd.org.
About National History Day in Pennsylvania:
NHD in PA is the state component of a nationwide, year-long, classroom based program that engages students in hands-on historical research and exploration. Students select a topic based on the annual theme, research and analyze primary and secondary sources, draw conclusions, and work as individuals or groups to develop websites, documentaries, papers, performances, or exhibits to showcase their research findings. Over 12,000 students and 325 teachers participate annually. Students may enter their projects in a series of contests at the local, regional, and state level. More than 800 students attend the annual state contest. State winners go on to represent Pennsylvania at the national contest in Washington, D.C. Research shows that NHD students outperform their peers on standardized achievement tests; that NHD students are better writers; and that they develop critical thinking skills and learn 21st Century skills (https://www.nhd.org/why-nhd-works).
About ABMC:
The American Battle Monuments Commission is an agency of the executive branch of the federal government, honoring the service, achievements and sacrifices of the U.S. armed forces abroad since April 6, 1917. ABMC manages and maintains 26 cemeteries and 30 federal memorials, monuments, and commemorative markers throughout the world. The commission also maintains three memorials in the United States.