Connecting History and Creativity

When students are encouraged to think independently and express themselves creatively, their learning takes on new life. At St. Agnes-St. Dominic we want to be sure our students learn-facts and context-but we also want them to think and feel, to understand the human experience and where they fit in.

A recent 8^th grade American History II project gave us a glimpse into what students can accomplish when they are given some decision-making power and freedom to express themselves creatively, and how they can connect with what they are learning on a deeper level.

Mr. Casey Goff, Jr. High American History II teacher explained, “We are studying World War I and as a supplement to the history readings and lectures, I added a project that combined history with art and literature. I gave the students ten war poems to choose from and asked them to illustrate some aspect of one poem. It could be an image, an emotion, or anything that came to mind as they read the work. We read many of the poems in class together and spent time discussing the historical components of each, as well as the metaphors and layered meanings. In the end, I was quite impressed with what the students shared.”

Among the many quality submissions, four student interpretations stood out as exemplary work. Those projects were submitted by Jo Bolton, Joshua Centeno, Yesenia Molina, and Eleanor Weems. In conversation with the students, they all agreed that they like this type of project-where they have some autonomy and the ability to choose how to express their creativity.

Yesenia and Eleanor both chose a poem entitled The Falling Leaves by Margaret Postgate Cole. Joshua and Jo picked the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” written by Wilfred Owen. When asked why they selected a particular poem, students expressed “It felt meaningful/it moved me,” “It was graphic,” and “I could visualize what was happening.”

The students’ takeaways from the project were remarkable. They moved beyond the numbers-dates, casualties, statistics-and were able to feel individual experiences and relate to human emotions.  

“I learned that violence and bad things happen, but there are still beautiful things about the world, even during the rough times,” shared Eleanor.

“Reading through the poems-hearing from people actually going through these things, having to fight wars, made it real,” added Jo.

“Ultimately, this project offers students a glimpse of the men and women at the core of the stories we read and learn and helps them see that the generations before us were not too dissimilar, explained Mr. Goff. “History is not one-dimensional—combining poetry, visual art, and historical context allows students to engage with the material through multiple lenses. It creates space for different kinds of understanding and honors the fact that human experience is expressed in many forms.”

Mr. Goff’s instructions to his class were “Be creative and enjoy the project” and that is just what these students did. We hope that you appreciate their work as much as we do!

The Falling Leaves, depicted by Yesenia Molina

The Falling Leaves, depicted by Eleanor Weems

Dulce et Decorum Est, depicted by Joshua Centeno

Dulce et Decorum Est, depicted by Jo Bolton