NHD Winners Interview Captain Turning 100
Source/Author: Raffi Darrow, Ebytes
May 07, 2020
In March 2020, Ebytes reported on Upper School students sharing their award-winning National History Day project with Middle School students. After fifth graders read “A Night Divided” by Jennifer A. Nielsen, about a family who wakes up one morning separated by the Berlin Wall, they watched a documentary film entitled “Colonel Gail Halvorsen: Breaking Barriers during the Berlin Airlift” presented by Jonathan Currie '21 and Gregory Glasscock '21. The high schoolers were lucky enough to have a phone interview with Colonel Gail Halvorsen - the same Captain Gail Halvorsen who repeatedly and compassionately dropped candy to the children in West Berlin from his plane to bring some joy during the challenging time.
This week, Nico Bottoni '21, Jonathan Currie '21, Gregory Glasscock '21, Zach Hahn '21 and Leddon Zwack '21 received first place at the state level of NHD for their documentary. They will virtually represent the school at the National contest in June. Follow this link to watch the documentary: https://youtu.be/pKOupPy8d4k
The historical connection does not end there! The fifth graders discovered that "The Candy Bomber" - as Halvorsen became known - was still alive and well. In fact, he will turn 100 in October! Students created birthday cards for Capt. Halvorsen in Google Slides and wrote letters to him about how he has inspired them and motivated them to think about others.
A special shout out also goes out to the other Chargers NHD state entrants: Shaherzad Chawdree '21 and Sofiya Idiyatullina '23.
Next year's National History Day theme is Communication in History. Get a jump start on thinking through and organizing a project with a summer program led by Middle School Teacher David Hodgson and Upper School Teacher Ron Heller.
This week, Nico Bottoni '21, Jonathan Currie '21, Gregory Glasscock '21, Zach Hahn '21 and Leddon Zwack '21 received first place at the state level of NHD for their documentary. They will virtually represent the school at the National contest in June. Follow this link to watch the documentary: https://youtu.be/pKOupPy8d4k
The historical connection does not end there! The fifth graders discovered that "The Candy Bomber" - as Halvorsen became known - was still alive and well. In fact, he will turn 100 in October! Students created birthday cards for Capt. Halvorsen in Google Slides and wrote letters to him about how he has inspired them and motivated them to think about others.
With the help of Upper School student Greg Glasscock, Ms. Janack got in touch with Capt. Halvorsen's daughter, who was able to share the birthday messages with her dad. This was with the help of the staff working at his assisted care facility because she was not able to visit him in person due to the Covid-19 restrictions in place at his residence. The staff recorded a thank you from Capt. Halvorsen for the Shorecrest fifth graders.
The students are so excited to have been in touch with a true American hero whose compassion touched the hearts of German children in 1948 and touched Shorecrest hearts 72 years later!
A special shout out also goes out to the other Chargers NHD state entrants: Shaherzad Chawdree '21 and Sofiya Idiyatullina '23.
Next year's National History Day theme is Communication in History. Get a jump start on thinking through and organizing a project with a summer program led by Middle School Teacher David Hodgson and Upper School Teacher Ron Heller.
