At the back of the library, Erik Swartz, a soft-spoken 14-year-old with shaggy hair, flips through papers. They鈥檙e rosters he found on Ancestry.com.
鈥淚t鈥檚 basically the document from the Japanese internment camp from rural Arkansas,鈥� he says.
He scans the document, pointing to several names.
鈥淔rancis, my great-grandmother鈥� Jane, one of my great-aunts,鈥� he reads.
He always knew that his family was forced to move to relocation centers during WWII, but didn鈥檛 know the time, locations or names. He later learned that they lived in a horse stall, where his grandmother was born.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 like a concentration camp, but it wasn鈥檛 the greatest either.鈥�
In interviews with his grandmother, she told him they lost everything鈥攐fficials took their jewelry, the family鈥檚 silver and gold, and kicked them off their land. Swartz says it鈥檚 a part of history that鈥檚 often only captured in short blurbs in American textbooks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 basically like in today鈥檚 standards, after 9/11 you threw every Muslim in a camp because they鈥檙e Muslim, it鈥檚 sort of like that, and it鈥檚 all because of civilian fear,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 wrong.鈥�
Swartz is one of dozens of 8th graders at Durant Road Middle School who spent weeks digging into public records, interviewing relatives and logging onto Ancestry.com. Teachers have been encouraging students to learn more about their families and who they are.
One student discovered she鈥檚 related to a former presidential candidate, another researched about his grandfather鈥檚 service in WWII, and one kid learned that her family lived under a tree for a month after a bad earthquake in Mexico.
'Making Connections'
鈥淚 was surprised at how many kids didn鈥檛 know what I thought were pretty basic things, like even where their parents were born,鈥� says Kristen Ziller, the school鈥檚 media specialist.
Ziller was involved in a collaboration between Ancestry.Com and LEARN NC to create a multimedia how-to guide for teachers who want to take on similar projects with their students. She says using family history resources in the classrooms help kids make connections in history.
鈥淭heir social studies curriculum comes alive or characters in books and they鈥檙e like 鈥榳oah that was like nana,鈥欌€� says Ziller.
One student who worked especially hard on the project is 14-year-old Sophie Walsh. She was always curious about her great-grandfather鈥檚 cousin. During WWII, he was part of the German Wehrmacht, or air force.
He flew a bomber that was disguised as civilian aircraft and was eventually captured by the British, who taught him English as a prisoner of war. Walsh talked with several relatives, dug into documents and helped build a family tree.
鈥淚 wanted to make sure I got like everything right, whereas someone who may have not been in my family like a famous person, I don鈥檛 really care as much,鈥� Walsh says.
After weeks of researching, students assembled presentations featuring images, timelines and videos.
Fourteen-year-old Mario Eason shared a story with classmates that had initially shocked him. His great-great uncle killed his brother-in-law with an ax on October 8, 1921. He reads an old newspaper article aloud in front of his class.
鈥淥fficers are continuing their search for Larry Aycock, prominent farmer who yesterday killed his brother-in-law鈥� by striking him in the head with an ax,鈥� Eason reads.
Eason first heard the story from his grandmother, but she was too ashamed to share many details. So, he logged onto his computer and began searching the name 鈥淟arry Aycock鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big secret, you should tell your family that if there鈥檚 a murder in the family,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen I tell people their mouths drop to the floors and they鈥檙e like 鈥榳hat really?鈥欌€�
Thirteen-year-old Khanaja Woodard also has a family story that she was initially hesitant to share. She presented right after Eason.
鈥淢y dad was incarcerated, yes, my dad went to jail,鈥� she says.
For her project, Woodard explored her upbringing and in the process learned more about her dad鈥檚 encounters with the law through police records.
鈥淢y memories of my dad going to jail weren鈥檛 bad or traumatizing, it was actually pretty interesting, it like built my relationship with my dad,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o yeah, this is a mug shot of my dad.鈥�
She says her 33-year-old dad from New Jersey made bad choices when he was younger, but he鈥檚 on the right track now. And that he wants what鈥檚 best for her, including finishing high school.
鈥淚 never understood to the full extent why he was always so hard on me on about school, and I found out he didn鈥檛 go to high school and he wants me to do better,鈥� she says.
After her presentation, Woodard shared that she has two big dreams. The first is to open a beauty salon one day.
The other is to study policy to help make neighborhoods like her dad鈥檚 safer places for kids to grow up.
