Description
Memorial Day – an American holiday that perhaps has an equivalent in your country if you are looking at this from a non-American perspective – has an interesting history. It started out, in 1868, as day to honor those who died in the Civil War and was called Decoration Day based on the tradition of decorating graves with flowers. This day was designated for the end of May because, it is believed, that is when flowers are in bloom throughout the nation. It wasn’t until 1971 that Memorial Day became a federal holiday, it’s definition having expanded earlier in the century to include all the men and women who died serving our country.
Every single person that is commemorated on Memorial Day has an interesting history as well. In this Challenge, each team must either a) find a person in their community who has died serving their country and create a two to three minute Memorial Day audio biography of that person; or create a character who comes from their community and, in serving the US in a war (of your choice), died. The focus here is on presenting the story of a person’s life – in that time, in your community, in that war — and not just an account of their life. The story can be presented in the first or third person. Only at the end of the audio biography will your team reveal whether or not this was a real or fictional character.
