Living History Night draws crowd
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Review Photo/ERIC HRIN People attend the Living History Night Thursday at Troy Middle School.
Review Photo/ERIC HRIN Gloria Torres and her father, Alfredo, stand in front of Gloria's living history display, which told the story of Alfredo's life. A Living History Night was held Thursday at Troy Middle School.
BY ERIC HRIN
TROY - Gloria Torres wanted to tell the story of someone interesting.
So, she picked her father.
She chronicled his life recently for a living history project at Troy Middle School.
On Thursday, her display was one of 112 on view at the school as a Living History Night was held.
The displays, made by eighth graders, were located in the cafeteria and the library. The living history projects, history teacher and coordinator Lyle Wesneski said, tie the community to the public school by telling the stories of people's lives. Students have been doing them at the school for six years.
The students pick someone over 21 years old, usually a relative, and complete an extensive interview.
"It brings that person to life," Wesneski said. "That's why we call it living history."
He noted that various disciplines like history, English, math, and even art come into play as students work on their projects, which included such components as a memoir, news article, biography, and timeline.
Gloria picked her father, Alfredo, for her project, she said, because "I wanted to learn more about him. I thought he would be an interesting person."
He was 24 years old when he came to America from Honduras. She had thought he was older, around 30 years old, at the time.
"An important event in his life was when came to the United States in 1991, at the age of 24," she wrote. "Another was when he received his United States citizenship in the summer of 2009."
Her display detailed the life-changing event.
"It was in 1991, and he only had his clothing with him. Alfredo paid for the trip himself. He was searching for better economic opportunities."
Gloria noted that her father only spoke Spanish, and eventually learned English. A Spanish/English dictionary was one of the items she had on view. Also, her display featured the booklet from his U.S. Naturalization Ceremony in Pittsburgh, and his green card.
Her display noted that her father found that "many wonderful opportunities have come from coming to the U.S." such as graduating from Mansfield University for business administration, meeting his wife ... and, of course, seeing his children, Gloria and Alfredo, born.
This November, he will go back to Honduras and visit his family for the first time since he left - 18 years ago.
He can't wait.
Eric Hrin can be reached at (570) 297-5251; e-mail: reviewtroy@thedailyreview.com.
3 posted comments
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I'd like to thank Ms. Taylor for being there also. She is my daughters teacher and chose to be there to meet us parents despite the "work to rule" nonsense the rest of them are doing. There were a few more teachers there last night, Mr. Beeman and Mr. Butters and some others. Thank you to all of you.