Educational Excellence Since 1912
Hamden Hall Country Day School
Educating students in PreSchool through Grade 12
Hamden Hall Country Day School
Educating students in PreSchool through Grade 12
AP Students Whisked Back to Earlier Days Under the Pines
AP U.S. History students in Dr. Lisa Hill’s class are researching subject matters that hit close to home. Their school home, that is.
Their research is focusing in on Hamden Hall and how various external events and happenings impacted our campus and the students enrolled at the time.
“We’re looking at the 1940s and how the war effort shaped things on campus,” explained junior Nikhil Samuel.
“I wanted my students to have a greater understanding of Hamden Hall and what students experienced as different events both domestically and internationally transpired,” said Dr. Hill.
Students will research for two weeks and then assemble their findings in different media form – from slide shows to posters and more – in order to make presentations on the information gleaned. The project is part of their final exam in the class.
Dr. Hill noted that topics students are researching include The Depression, The New Deal, World War II, and the Civil Rights Movement.
As she thumbed through a 1950 yearbook, junior Orly Richter said she chose the 1950s because “the post-war period seemed really interesting to me.” She discovered a page written by a German exchange student who expounded on his experience in Japan during WWII.
Having borrowed yearbooks from the Development Office, students donned white gloves to properly handle each book and its precious contents. The Development Office has yearbooks dating back to 1938. For juniors Eduardo Pagliaro-Haque and Jasmine Johnson, who chose the 1920s for their time period, on-campus research was somewhat confined to the school’s 100th anniversary book, which is a complete history of school dating back to its opening days in 1912.
“In 1927 we allowed women into Hamden Hall,” exclaimed Jasmine.
Junior Michael Lee emailed Dr. Hill over the weekend after he discovered that Pulitzer Prize winner Thornton Wilder lived in Hamden during the time that he wrote the beloved play “Our Town.”
As an added bonus, students met with Hamden Hall alumnus Bob Mansfield, Class of 1954, to ask him about various goings-on around campus during his time under the pines.
All presentation materials from the project will be gifted to the school, said Dr. Hill.
“Each year I have my AP U.S. History class do a project for their final exam and then we present the project to the school as a gift. Last year the project was a website,” she said.
Hamden Hall Country Day School
1108 Whitney Avenue
Hamden, Connecticut 06517
Phone: 203-752-2600
Fax: 203-752-2651
admissions@hamdenhall.org
Hamden, Connecticut 06517
Phone: 203-752-2600
Fax: 203-752-2651
admissions@hamdenhall.org
About Us
Hamden Hall Country Day School is a nurturing and inclusive community with a dynamic learning environment that promotes academic excellence by understanding each child and fostering their individual growth.
