Born in Illinois before the Civil War, Rebecca Mitchell moved to Idaho Falls in 1880 and started the first schoolhouse and church.
Known for fighting for women’s suffrage across Idaho, Mitchell was eventually elected chaplain of the Idaho state legislature in 1897, the first woman elected to the position in the United States.
She is among history’s unsung heroes highlighted in this year’s Common Read, “The Small and the Mighty” by Sharon McMahon, and part of an America250 project that connects future teachers at University of Idaho with Moscow Middle School students.
As part of the America250 initiative, students at Moscow Middle School and future teachers in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction shared insights and compared notes about the Common Read. The discussions helped the U of I students home in on their future as teachers by reacquainting themselves with a middle school classroom, and the middle school students learned how teachers have historically shaped the U.S.
The idea of celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States by studying the country’s overlooked or forgotten champions and discussing their contributions in a community forum was developed by doctoral student and teaching assistant Lena Udekwu, who is in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences.
When she heard about the nationwide initiative, Udekwu looked for ways to incorporate the America250 campaign into a teaching and learning exercise that brings together university students and middle schoolers.
“Our primary goal is to provide opportunities for communication and community building while celebrating America’s 250 years,” Udekwu said. “We focused on this theme of unsung heroes to explore and develop ideas for teaching that included book discussions between undergraduate students and middle school students, as well as a podcast on themes derived from the Common Read.”
Middle school librarian Paige Mangini helped Udekwu incorporate a podcast plan around the America250 project in which middle school students would, through a series of on-the-air interviews, document local unsung heroes via podcasting. The podcasts were recorded at the U of I library podcasting studio.
“’The Heroes Without Headlines’ podcast is completely created, directed and edited by the [middle school] students,” Mangini said. “The Common Read guides the whole project. Students pull themes from ‘The Small and the Mighty’ to write their scripts, choose the topics of conversation and decide which guests to bring on. The podcast is all about shining a light on local changemakers in our community and sharing their stories.”
Our primary goal is to provide opportunities for communication and community building.
Lena Udekwu
Doctoral student in curriculum and instruction
The middle school students developed interviewing and listening skills by recording two podcasts with local leaders. They recorded interviews with U of I faculty and administrators including President Scott Green and Blaine Eckles, vice provost and dean of student affairs, and the second podcast focused on Vandal Football Coach Thomas Ford Jr. and Mario Pile, student ombuds and retention specialist.
“For us, this project is meant to build community between the middle school students and U of I education students, and to support the middle school students as they develop and facilitate book club discussions with their peers,” said U of I instructor Erin Corwine.
Middle school student John said the project’s overarching goal was to build a line of communication between future teachers and current students. Moscow Middle School asked that students not be identified by their last names.
“We want to create a long-lasting ripple effect to benefit our town, as well as to create a new community within our school, where people can talk openly,” John said.
America’s unsung heroes highlighted in the Common Read included a lot of teachers and their contributions to American culture.
LJ Aguirre, a U of I education major from Meridian, said the Common Read theme and the enthusiasm of the middle schoolers were inspirational.
“I was one of those kids that didn’t like school, but reading these stories and discussing them with these students lets me know I’m on the right track,” Aguirre said. “I want to be able as a teacher to build confidence in young people and make them like to learn.”
Like the unsung heroes of McMahon’s book, helping students overcome challenges is among the reasons math education major Gabriella Swanson of Spokane wants to teach.
“I know math is difficult for a lot of students, and I was fortunate to have some great inspirational teachers to help me over those hurdles,” she said. “I had so much help with all my math classes in middle school and high school and I want to duplicate that and pass it on.”
What middle schoolers taught this future teacher
University of Idaho secondary education major with a mathematics emphasis gains hands-on classroom experience working with middle school students. Through real conversations and a common read activity, she learns what students value most in their teachers and how those lessons are shaping her future career.