Project Goals
When I decided I wanted to create a United States History Hall of Fame in Mansfield High School I immediately had so many ideas of how I could make it look, where I wanted it to go, and what kind of information I wanted it to include. Before all the chaos and hard work could start I had to make a list of goals for what I wanted for my project. My list for what I wanted for my project from the beginning is featured below.
Who do I want as my mentor?
Mr. Deasy. This question had an easy answer. Mr. Deasy was my AP U.S History teacher and he is one of the teachers who created the original class U.S History Hall of Fame project. I got along very well with Mr. Deasy so I knew it would be easy to have conversations with him and brainstorm about the project.
Where do I want the United States History Hall of Fame to go?
I knew right away that I wanted it go between Mr.Barrett's and Mrs.Atwood's/Mr.Hocking's classrooms. I wanted the Hall of Fame to go here because it is the history area of the second floor. Mrs.Atwood and Mr.Barrett are history teachers and more importantly Mr.Hocking is one of the teachers that created the original Hall of Fame project so it makes sense that it would be next to his classroom. Mr. Deasy also has his classroom located just around the corner from this location. Mr. Deasy and Mr.Hocking created the Hall of Fame project, and they do the project with their AP U.S History students. It is very important to me that the AP U.S History students will have the display close to their classrooms (Mr. Deasy and Mr.Hocking’s classrooms) as they will be the ones adding people to the Hall of Fame.
What do I want the design for the Hall of Fame to be?
Something that was very important to me when creating this Hall of Fame was that I wanted it to stand out. I didn't want just another cork board put between two already existing cork boards. The school is filled with plain white walls, cork boards, and monochrome fliers. People are very visual and I know most people do not go to look at these things because they do not catch your eye. In order for people to actually want to look at the Hall of Fame it needed to be big, colorful, and different from every other display in the school. I knew that I wanted each of the 16 members of the Hall of Fame to have their own picture frame. Their frame would include a picture of them and a description of why they are important and why they are inspiring. I started thinking about having an American Flag as the background. I quickly realized I could not have a real American Flag on the wall because I couldn't hang frames on that. I then came up with the idea of having painting an American Flag on the wall and then hanging the frames on top of that wall. I loved the idea right away and ran with it.
Who do I want as my mentor?
Mr. Deasy. This question had an easy answer. Mr. Deasy was my AP U.S History teacher and he is one of the teachers who created the original class U.S History Hall of Fame project. I got along very well with Mr. Deasy so I knew it would be easy to have conversations with him and brainstorm about the project.
Where do I want the United States History Hall of Fame to go?
I knew right away that I wanted it go between Mr.Barrett's and Mrs.Atwood's/Mr.Hocking's classrooms. I wanted the Hall of Fame to go here because it is the history area of the second floor. Mrs.Atwood and Mr.Barrett are history teachers and more importantly Mr.Hocking is one of the teachers that created the original Hall of Fame project so it makes sense that it would be next to his classroom. Mr. Deasy also has his classroom located just around the corner from this location. Mr. Deasy and Mr.Hocking created the Hall of Fame project, and they do the project with their AP U.S History students. It is very important to me that the AP U.S History students will have the display close to their classrooms (Mr. Deasy and Mr.Hocking’s classrooms) as they will be the ones adding people to the Hall of Fame.
What do I want the design for the Hall of Fame to be?
Something that was very important to me when creating this Hall of Fame was that I wanted it to stand out. I didn't want just another cork board put between two already existing cork boards. The school is filled with plain white walls, cork boards, and monochrome fliers. People are very visual and I know most people do not go to look at these things because they do not catch your eye. In order for people to actually want to look at the Hall of Fame it needed to be big, colorful, and different from every other display in the school. I knew that I wanted each of the 16 members of the Hall of Fame to have their own picture frame. Their frame would include a picture of them and a description of why they are important and why they are inspiring. I started thinking about having an American Flag as the background. I quickly realized I could not have a real American Flag on the wall because I couldn't hang frames on that. I then came up with the idea of having painting an American Flag on the wall and then hanging the frames on top of that wall. I loved the idea right away and ran with it.
What do I want viewers to get from the Hall of Fame?
I hope that once the Hall of Fame is completed students, teachers, parents and whoever looks at it see a wall of inspiration. I think that we can get a lot of inspiration from our past and the Hall of Fame highlights 16 inspirational people who each represent important American ideals that should be remembered and applied to every generation. The ideas that people should not be treated as inferior because of their race or that everyone deserves to freely express their religion if they choose to have one are not just ideas of the past that people who existed 100 years ago should care about. They are ideas that everyone should care about and defend no matter what year they are living in. These ideas and many more are represented by the 16 people in the Hall of Fame. I hope people read the Hall of Fame and are inspired to defend the rights of themselves and others on an everyday basis in every situation. I hope people become a little more inspired than they were before.
I hope that once the Hall of Fame is completed students, teachers, parents and whoever looks at it see a wall of inspiration. I think that we can get a lot of inspiration from our past and the Hall of Fame highlights 16 inspirational people who each represent important American ideals that should be remembered and applied to every generation. The ideas that people should not be treated as inferior because of their race or that everyone deserves to freely express their religion if they choose to have one are not just ideas of the past that people who existed 100 years ago should care about. They are ideas that everyone should care about and defend no matter what year they are living in. These ideas and many more are represented by the 16 people in the Hall of Fame. I hope people read the Hall of Fame and are inspired to defend the rights of themselves and others on an everyday basis in every situation. I hope people become a little more inspired than they were before.