Goshen. Orange-Ulster BOCES seeks students to participate 'Witnessing History Project'

Orange-Ulster BOCES’ Division of Instructional Support Services is looking for students to participate in its “Witnessing History Project.”

Activity worldwide has come to a near pause during this unique period in history. The Coronavirus Pandemic has closed schools, stopped work and caused people to stay at home.

BOCES educators are asking students from grades K-12 to share in the project by documenting their account of living through these historic times in the Lower Hudson Valley. In other words, writers of history.

"In order for us to have first-person accounts of daily life through the eyes of students in the Lower Hudson Valley during this historic time, OU-BOCES is inviting students living through this experience to contribute their experiences in the form of a journal, narrative, illustration or letter," the organization said in its press release detailing the project. "Our students’ accounts of the Coronavirus Pandemic will document and create historical records that future students and historians will use to understand this time in history."

There are separate Witnessing History Projects for Grades K-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8 and Grades 9-12.

"All voices need to be accounted for to make sense of societal change and sweeping historical events - not just those who make the headlines and are featured in textbooks," said Kathleen Helhoski, cooordinator of the Social Studies Initiative for OU-BOCES. "This collection of personal accounts by a variety of students in our region will help shape future perspectives of this unique time in history."

For more information please email Nicole Rivera at nicole.rivera@ouboces.org or Diane E. Lang at diane.lang@ouboces.org.