Based on the insight that a key habit of historians is to consider the perspectives of different historical actors and the assumptions of the authors of both primary and secondary sources, the guiding question of the day was, “How do our experiences and assumptions change our perspectives?” To frame the day, the high-school students viewed and discussed one of the 25 most-viewed TED Talks, “The Danger of a Single Story,” by Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie. The students observed that single perspectives, such as stereotypes, are dangerous not because they aren’t true, but because they are true and yet, in the words of the speaker, “incomplete.”
Lunch continued the theme of multiple perspectives on Thanksgiving, as teachers and students prepared dishes that they contributed to the communal meal. The students then reflected on aspects of gratitude that are meaningful to them, and shared them with each other.
After lunch, the high-school students were joined by the 8th grade, and together they participated in interactive workshops which used engineering, debate, math, art, and economics to exemplify the cultural differences between Native Americans and Pilgrims. Working with primary sources in order to understand what life was like for the original Pilgrims and Native Americans in 17th-century Plymouth Colony, the students assumed the identities of particular characters, approached the challenge from that perspective, and found ways to collaborate and solve the challenge with others with similar and different perspectives.
At the end of the day, the students gathered in the school auditorium to hear a presentation by Mrs. Chaya Willig-Levy. Mrs. Willig-Levy recounted personal experiences that exemplified how life events can be viewed in different ways. She encouraged the students to adopt a perspective which reveals Hashem’s “hand” guiding their lives and to cultivate a sense of gratitude and awe.
In many ways, History Day was an ideal preparation for Thanksgiving.