Much of the education provided by the American Battle Monuments Commission happens at its 26 cemeteries and 31 monuments around the world. As part of its mission to expand educational opportunities, on June 26, middle and high school teachers in the Washington, D.C. area learned how they can bring ABMC’s mission to their students in the U.S.  

ABMC Training and Education Officer Liz DeLucia partnered with the National Museum of the U.S. Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, to present, “To build, expand, and defend:  Teaching American history through Army soldiers’ stories,” for almost 20 educators including two who traveled from Delaware and Florida to attend. 

It’s important to reach out to educators, DeLucia said, as each of them in turn will share our mission with dozens of students.  

“We wanted to reach out to teachers as they’re approaching the end of their school year, their summer vacation, to give them some things to think about for the next year,” she said.  

The workshop, which was held at the museum with the support of National History Day and the American Battle Monuments Foundation, provided the teachers an opportunity to learn more about the Army’s role in nation building focusing on individual’s stories from the Revolutionary War, the Spanish American War and World War II.  

While NMUSA staff focused on the Revolutionary War portion, highlighting a new exhibit at the museum, DeLucia tied information on the Spanish American War and World War II to ABMC sites such as the Mexico City National Cemetery the World War II sites in Europe. Using online resources such as lesson plans, 360 virtual tours and service member profiles developed with the National History Day program, DeLucia shared with the group how they could incorporate ABMC resources into their curriculum. 

The workshop also provided opportunities for collaboration between the educators and presenters.  

“I felt they were really inspired listening to the stories, and seeing all the resources we had for them,” DeLucia said, adding one teacher already shared how she planned to modify a joint English and social studies assignment to include service member profiles.  

Resources available on ABMC.gov include “Silent Hero” profiles developed with the support of National History Day, as well as 51 lesson plans on topics such as art and wartime, the prisoner of war experience, the calculus of war, and the deception of double agents.