Von Steuben Gold Star Project
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I'm a social studies teacher at Von Steuben High School in Chicago, and the club sponsor of the Historians Club. Last year I was given a letter written by Varian O'Shea, the Von Steuben principal in the 1940's, to the family of a WWII Gold Star veteran, Sherman Levine. The letter invited the family to an Armistice Day Celebration and the dedication of a plaque that listed all of the Von Steuben graduates who died in WWII. The letter said, "The plaque will be mounted permanently on the wall of our assembly hall in order that present and future students of Von Steuben will have before them always the names of those heroes who purchased freedom for the rest of us at the expense of their own lives." I looked all over the school, but unfortunately this plaque was nowhere to be found.
My students and I studied the letter along with other documents about Sherman Levine who was serving as a meteorologist in the Army at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and was killed in the attack. After looking at Sherman's yearbook and army pictures and reading a letter he wrote to a friend, my students and I mourned his loss. It was a connection to a bygone era that is hard to accomplish in any other way. 
Last year we started the Historians Club and dedicated ourselves to memorializing and remembering the Von Steuben alumni who died in WWII. Through our research and some luck, we found the missing plaque.
We have now identified 65 names of men who died in service during WWII. We have planned a trip to Belgium, France, and The Netherlands to memorialize 11 of these soldiers buried overseas over Spring Break of this year. It will be an amazing experience for the 12 students who have signed up, but we need to raise significant funds for the price of this important trip.
Institutional memory and pride is important in schools. My students are learning that most of the students that went to Von Steuben during WWII came from immigrant families like theirs. Most of the students were Jewish and proud of their culture and heritage. We're excited to learn more about this era and these soldiers. We'd be grateful for your support.
Take a look at The Gold Star Project in the news!
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Jewish Historical Society
My students and I studied the letter along with other documents about Sherman Levine who was serving as a meteorologist in the Army at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and was killed in the attack. After looking at Sherman's yearbook and army pictures and reading a letter he wrote to a friend, my students and I mourned his loss. It was a connection to a bygone era that is hard to accomplish in any other way. Last year we started the Historians Club and dedicated ourselves to memorializing and remembering the Von Steuben alumni who died in WWII. Through our research and some luck, we found the missing plaque.We have now identified 65 names of men who died in service during WWII. We have planned a trip to Belgium, France, and The Netherlands to memorialize 11 of these soldiers buried overseas over Spring Break of this year. It will be an amazing experience for the 12 students who have signed up, but we need to raise significant funds for the price of this important trip.
Institutional memory and pride is important in schools. My students are learning that most of the students that went to Von Steuben during WWII came from immigrant families like theirs. Most of the students were Jewish and proud of their culture and heritage. We're excited to learn more about this era and these soldiers. We'd be grateful for your support.
Take a look at The Gold Star Project in the news!
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Jewish Historical Society
Organizer
Meghan Thomas
Organizer
Chicago, IL