History comes to life in James Percocco and Brad Swain’s seventh period Applied History class. Seniors who take this class get to experience history in a different way by going on field trips and then in second semester, having an internship at a historical site.
“This class gives a really unique perspective on history. It definitely different,” said senior Megan Dumond.
During the first semester of the class students stay in the classroom and have occasional field trips. Come second semester however, the students are no longer confined to a classroom to experience history, but get to have an internship at a local area historical site.
“The first semester was fun and we learned a lot, but what I really looked forward to was getting out to experience history,” said senior Vicki Knabe, who interns at Mary Mcleod Bethune historical house.
This year dozens of historical sites visited the class each day to inform students of what their sites have to offer. At the end of the speakers, students chose which site they wanted to intern at.
“Some of the sites could only take a couple people,” said senior Claire McCartney, “like Fairfax Archeology said they could only take three. I really wanted that spot and so did a bunch of other people.”
The competition for spots might have made the class tense, but students worked together and compromised so that everyone ended up at an internship they enjoyed.
“It could have gotten ugly, but people were willing to be flexible,” said McCartney.
By doing these internships students get a different prospective on history. They get to experience job opportunities that they might not have know existed otherwise.
“I love my internship,” said Dumond who interns at Mount Vernon. “It’s the type of job that I would want to have after college. It’s so much fun, but I’m learning at the same time.”
Through this class and the internships students get once in a lifetime experiences and unique stories to share with their peers.
“I got to go into a centuries old tomb,” aid senior TJ Fish, “It was so awesome and something I probably wouldn’t have experienced otherwise.”
