Nov 9, 2017 5 min read

When Nicole Serafini asked seventh- and eighth-graders in her writing lab who their heroes were, the students named their parents, athletes and well-known philanthropists.

But the teacher wanted them to dig a little deeper. She directed the class to look up the definition of a hero. Then, she asked them to take a look around their community.

The students were able to create a lengthy list of candidates worthy of the “hometown hero” label.

With the “Heroes of Washington County” project, St. Patrick’s School students, supported by an affiliation with Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, are creating digital stories of their selected heroes.

Instead of relying solely on internet searches, the Canonsburg students are visiting museums, historical societies and libraries to conduct research. They’re also scheduling and conducting interviews with some of their subjects.

“I didn’t want them to just do a Google search. I wanted them to go and talk to people. I wanted them to learn the background of these people, and why they’re well known,” said Serafini. “Working with the History Center gave us the opportunity to connect more with the community.”

The History Center has affiliations with more than 100 sites and organizations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, allowing the entities – museums, historical societies, church preservation groups, schools and libraries – to connect in many ways, said Robert Stakeley, History Center Affiliates Program coordinator.

“One of the positives or benefits of these collaborations … is having deep-rooted connections with other historical sites in the region. For years, we’ve worked with many different sites in Washington County. When students came up with project ideas, we knew exactly where to send them for primary source materials,” Stakeley said. “There is research that can’t be done at school. A lot of this information cannot be found simply by using the internet. You still have to do grassroots detective work, investigating, reaching out to sites, going to sites, looking at resources, examining resources, interviewing individuals and compiling facts. We help Nicole’s students make those connections with ease.”

From their list of worthy candidates, students divided into groups and chose six heroes to research. Selected were two current residents – Canonsburg Mayor David Rhome and state Fire Commissioner Tim Solobay – and four historical figures – Francis LeMoyne, Washington doctor and philanthropist; David Bradford, attorney and a leader of the Whiskey Rebellion; John McMillan, minister and a founder of Washington & Jefferson College; and Appollonius Tyszka, first priest of St. Patrick’s Parish.

Stakeley said that when the decision was made to limit the heroes to Washington County, there was concern that there wouldn’t be enough of a selection.

“We quickly found out there are many, many candidates for this project,” he said. “We didn’t want to have one and done. We firmly believe there’s a long-term legacy for this project.”

Early in the school year, Stakeley met with Serafini’s students at the school. He let them know about all of the resources available to them, including the collections of the LeMoyne and Bradford houses, and taught them how to conduct hands-on research.

“We want to make sure they go above and beyond just stating they’re a hero,” Stakeley said. “(The students) are connecting who, what, when and why and developing a story, and telling that story as to why that person is a hero based on various facts.”

The project-based learning is not limited to research and writing. Serafini is teaching the students how to communicate effectively by calling and scheduling appointments. They also learned how to compose an appropriate email.

“I let them call. They needed to get the information and it wasn’t going to be me. It’s nice to see them maturing. It’s not an easy thing to do. I don’t think many of them have done something like that before. This is teaching them things a textbook doesn’t. They’re learning life lessons and skills they will have to be able to do when they get older,” she said. “I’m behind the scenes. They are putting it all together. It’s nice to see them growing and becoming young adults. They’ve taken a lot of ownership of the project.”

Rhome, who went to the school to be interviewed Tuesday, said the students were professional and organized.

“They were a well-prepared group,” said Rhome, who was honored to be selected.

Students will take the information they gathered and write a paper, which they will then turn into a script for the final product – a short film of three-to-five minutes to be created on iMovie. They’ll use audio from interviews and incorporate photos of artifacts.

The videos are due to Serafini in January. She and Stakeley are planning a premiere, possibly a public premiere, to display the digital stories.

“We’re trying to bring community into it and getting (the students) to connect outside of school,” Serafini said.

Stakeley and Serafini are creating a list of Washington County heroes to be used in future projects.

“If the community has suggestions or input, we’ll add them to the database. There’s really no end to this project. That’s what gets me excited, to get these students interested in their own stories and local history,” said Stakeley. “I’m looking forward to learning and discovering new heroes. Any community support or input in identifying Washington County heroes, we welcome.”

For more information, visit www.saintpatsschool.org. or www.heinzhistorycenter.org.