Wallenpaupack Area High School social studies teacher Matt Nawrocki included a Greene-Dreher Historical Society publication for his lesson on World War I. History took on both a first-person and a local immediacy as Mr. Nawrocki assigned students a letter analysis project using Bernadine Lennon’s book Greene-Dreher in the Great War. Mr. Nawrocki assigned each student a letter within the book and tasked them with forming a presentation on the letter. Students researched the writer and explored why the letter was written.
“This analysis was great for the students to learn the context of the war and how it impacted local people who were involved in the conflict,” said Mr. Nawrocki. “Overall, it is a great way for us to culminate our World War I unit because we took the events that we learned about in the unit and applied them to real world examples in our Wallenpaupack community!”
Bernadine applauded Mr. Nawrocki’s incorporation of local history into the curriculum and responded, “What you had the students do is exactly why I do research. I like to look at local history and how it fits into the larger context of the time in question. I am pleased that you presented the Great War in the way you did and that the historical society was able to facilitate your teaching.”
Greene-Dreher in the Great War commemorates the 100th Anniversary of America’s role during World War I in 1917–1918. It honors the memory of 142 local men and women who served in the Great War, documents their military service—where they trained, the units they were assigned to, where they served—and describes America’s experience during the war, as seen through the eyes of these young men and women. The Historical Society donated copies of the book to the high school for use in their history classes.
The book received statewide recognition when it was favorably reviewed in Pennsylvania Magazine in July/August 2020. It is available for purchase on our Shop page and at Peggy Bancroft Hall.
