What do pilates, jazz, and wristwatches have in common? All four were shaped by World War I (1914 to 1918), something students learned through the World War I History Event.
During the event this past week at the library, Newberg High School students explored the impacts of the war, perusing a museum-like educational display of their fellow students’ projects. All students created tri-fold cardboard presentations, some with 3-D models, such as a saxophone or a model of the first Pilates workout station.
Three Example Projects
While checking out their fellow students’ work, three freshmen shared a little bit about their projects: Emilee Davidson (Pilates), Peyton Wells (jazz), and Saúl Peña (trench watches).
Trench watches
Peña found out that trench watches replaced pocket watches during the war, an innovation that made checking the time slightly faster for soldiers holed up in deep ditches. Trench watches came about during the Boer War and were popularized during World War I, later evolving into the more refined wristwatch, a symbol of wealth.
Pilates
Davidson discovered that a man named Joseph Pilates created the exercise style that bears his last name during World War I. At the time, Pilates was living in Britain, and officials captured him and other German nationals and confined them to prison. Pilates, a physical fitness fiend, devised an exercise regime in his cell while he was interned. Davidson needed a 3-D model to represent his techniques and brainstormed the idea to create a wooden bed like the one he used to exercise while interned in the war. She and her father carved the model from scraps in his woodshop.
“I thought it was really fun,” she said of the assignment. “I did it really quickly because I liked the [subject] I picked.”
Jazz
For his project, Wells, who plays trombone in the NHS Symphonic Band, focused on jazz, an interest of his — especially New York brass bands. He said jazz: kept “the American spirit alive” during World War I, opened doors for many people of color who were jazz artists, and created a fresh sound.
“It was a unique kind of music that no one had ever heard before,” he said.
Why the Project Persists
Four teachers have included the World War One History Event in their Modern World History classes for the past seven years: Andrew Gallagher, Colleen Edgley, Jennifer Livingston, and Dylan Stacy.
“We do it for a variety of reasons: It is a great chance for students to choose a particular topic and dive deep into a war with which people aren't as familiar, but still has such profound effects on our world,” Gallagher said. “They can choose from hundreds of different topics — anything from art made in the trenches, the evolution of British tanks, environmental impacts of the war, a famous general or spy, to the Battle of the Somme — there's something for everyone. Having it be a museum-like display so that others can see it also lends an authentic factor to the project and makes it more meaningful to them. The students buy in more, and the results tend to be elevated with a sense of: ‘this will be on display.’”
With the construction of their tri-folds and 3-D model, the project encompasses an important element that taps into primal knowledge: craftsmanship.
“We have only had public education for a couple hundred years, and we’ve been doing things with our hands for thousands of years,” he said.
Student Teacher Annaka Garhofer led Livingston’s class this year and was ecstatic about the project’s learning opportunities, such as self-assessment, time management, and organizational skills from the project. She said the students shone in this assignment.
“There are always ups and downs, but it’s gone really well,” she said, ”and the projects all look super good.”
Judging by just the projects on jazz, trench watches, and Pilates, the World War One History Event definitely had some great projects, and students learned a great deal of WW I history.