SEARSPORT, Maine — Searsport District High School teacher Kathleen Jenkins had an all-boy senior English class this spring and, with three of the five teens interested in joining the military, she decided to tailor the curriculum to what they wanted to learn.
That decision paid off. The boys worked hard, she said, reading books about war, including “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, and “Unbroken,” by Laura Hillenbrand. They also partnered with the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport to create an exhibit called “Memoirs of War: A Soldier’s Seabag.”
The exhibit tells the story of 10 Maine veterans’ wartime experiences through their mementos and souvenirs. It will be on display for the next couple of years in the Carver Gallery at the museum.
“It’s the idea of connecting kids to information that’s relevant to their lives,” Jenkins said of the school’s project-based learning emphasis. “This is a lot of research, and they did a great job of interviewing the veterans. It really kind of brought the whole history to life.”
One of those veterans, Norman Rossignol of Bangor, was on hand last week to check out the exhibit for himself.
“It’s fantastic,” Rossignol said, as he looked at the photographs on the wall. “They’re doing one good job. I’m glad to see the younger generation come around that way.”
The younger generation — at least several examples thereof — seemed pretty excited about the exhibit and history. Anthony Powers, 18, of Prospect said that the teens also found objects in the museum’s archives that were good examples of what soldiers carried with them into war. Those included a handbook that taught soldiers how to swim, a signal mirror, a sextant, a Nazi flag and a lifeboat chart.
“I feel like with the hands-on projects, you’re learning but you’re doing at the same time,” he said. “You’re using real-life skills.”
Cipperly Good, the museum’s collections manager, said that it has been a good partnership with the high school.
“The museum is glad to be part of this project-based learning initiative,” she said. “We’ve partnered with school classes on how the Penobscot Bay influences our community. This is the latest in a long line of projects in which we make learning come alive.”