NOTE: All of the interviews are currently available to watch here: Veterans History Project
Below is a quick description on each of the PNG 2017 sessions done for the Veteran’s History Project:
Planning Meeting 1/10/17
On January the 10th, the PNG mentors met with Claudia Kerens, the Journalism teacher at the Sparta High school, for a planning meeting at the Sparta Public Library. We discussed having students from the school work on the Veterans History Project by conducting the interviews and setting up the equipment. Additionally the schedule and some additional ideas for the program were discussed, at this meeting we decided to setup a ‘Coffee with Veterans’ meeting.
Project Presentation 1/18/17
On January the 18th, Susan Colbert the project director presented the Veterans History Project at the Cedarhurst Assisted Living home. She talked about the program, and handed out packets to the attendees. There were 6 people in attendance, all expressed interest in participating in the project.
VFW Project Presentation 1/24/17
On January the 24th, Susan Colbert presented the Veterans History Project to the local VFW post, in Sparta, IL. She talked about the program and handed out packets for the program.
Coffee with Veterans 1/31/17
On January the 31st, the Sparta Public Library and PNG mentors hosted a ‘Coffee with Veterans’ event to present the Veterans History Project program, there were two sign-ups for the event.
Journalism Class Presentation 2/7/17
On February 7th, the PNG mentors presented the Veterans History Project to the students of Claudia Keren’s Journalism class; we discussed the importance of the program, handed out packets about the program, and asked for students who would be willing to participate in the program. We also showed a segment of an example interview.
Setup Practice 2/14/17
We had a student come in and practice camera and lighting setup. We practiced setting up the lighting, seating and proper positioning of the camera.
Interview Practice 2/21/17
We had 3 students come in and practice interviewing each other in preparation for the program. Each of the three students took turns interviewing and being interviewed. We also went over camera, lighting and seating setup. We discussed how to properly interview someone, and filling out the required paperwork.
First Interview Session 3/7/17
We had two veterans come in for our first session, and we had 3 students come in to assist with the interview.
Second Interview Session 3/14/17
We had one veteran and two students in attendance for this session. One of the veterans from the first session had wanted to be re-interviewed, because his original interview fell short of the 30 minute mark required for submission to the Library of Congress.
Third Interview Session 3/21/17
For our third session we had another veteran come in to do an interview, with two students to conduct the interview.
Fourth Interview Session 3/28/17
For the fourth session we had two veterans come in to be interviewed, there were three students in attendance to this session.
To watch all of the videos recorded as a part of the Veterans History Project, head over to the Veterans History Project page.