Students create videos that will be part of national Smithsonian exhibit

Sycamore High School Sophomore Jesse Mantzke enjoys learning about farming, agriculture and industry as a member of the FFA, but she didn’t think she’d be able to share the information she learned about local farmers at a national level.

The DeKalb County History Center was selected to create one of 16 projects nationwide for the Smithsonian’s Stories from Main Street: Youth Engagement and Skill-building Program (Stories: YES).

By participating in Stories: YES, students from DeKalb, Sycamore and Hinckley-Big Rock high schools explore the question, “What is the future of agriculture?”, through research, writing questions, interviewing, recording and creating videos.

“I’m looking forward to sharing our videos with others around the country,” Mantzke said. “It’s important for the younger generation to get involved.”

Stories: YES is a collaboration between youth and the history center to develop stories around the theme of the Smithsonian Museum on Main Street exhibition “Crossroads: Change in Rural America,” which will be on display from May 11 through June 22.

The Stories: YES videos will be displayed in the history center's exhibit and their digital stories will be shared on Museum on Main Street's website.

“I’m always learning something amazing that happened in local history and am interested in what’s going to happen next,” said Carol Meeks, an educator with the history center. “The exhibit is all about small towns making a big impact, and we hope to showcase DeKalb County’s farming and agricultural future in the videos.”

Student groups involved with the project at Sycamore High School include the FFA, Spartan News, Spartan TV Jr. and History Club.

“It’s an opportunity to get involved with the local exhibit and learn more about the future of farming and industry in DeKalb County,” Sycamore FFA member Allie Drake said. “We get to not only ask questions to local farmers, we get to have a conversation.”

DeKalb County History Center Executive Director Michelle Donahoe said that a crucial part of the videos’ success is collaboration and partnerships it takes to create them.

“A big part of this project is partnerships, partnerships between high schools, local businesses, farmers and the history center,” Donahoe said. “We don’t want students to think of history as something that happened long ago in a place they’ve never heard of. We want to form a connection to their community, instill community pride, interest and involvement.”

Bill Deutsch, a Sycamore dairy farmer that was interviewed for a video, said he participated as a way to bridge the information gap between farmers and consumers.

“There’s not enough information out, and I wanted to tell consumers about what really goes on on the farm,” Deutsch said. “There’s not many of us farmers left, and I wanted to tell my story. I’m a fifth generation farmer. I started helping out on the farm by carrying milk in pails. If we don’t share our stories, they’ll be lost.”

OC Creative in DeKalb helped teach students how to film and edit videos. Once the students are finished with their videos, OC Creative will help with professional editing.

“This project has real-word applications and will have an even larger audience when it’s online,” said Matt Anderson, Spartan News teacher. “This is big, the stories they share will be around forever. It’s more than a learning experience or something to add to their resumes. They’re doing this because they want to get involved in their community. It’s not even for a grade, it’s all volunteer.”

The history center will keep the equipment purchased through the program and continue to make it available for student access for future projects. A grant the history center received through Stories: YES helped fund the purchase of cameras, video editing software and a touch screen computer to be used as part of the exhibit.

“This is a student-led initiative that will be part of the Smithsonian exhibit, but we will continue to offer programs like this as an opportunity for students to be a part of the history center’s local exhibits,” Donahoe said. “Stories: YES is designed to be a pilot program, especially since we now have the technology to continue it on.”

Donahoe said that interviews and videos are only one way students can continue to be involved in local history.

“It’s important for our youth to get involved and for us to include their voices as part of the narrative,” she said. “We have a wealth of information at the history center, from primary sources to historical items. Our goal is to make people more excited and aware of all the great history we have right here in DeKalb County.”

For more information about the Smithsonian Museum on Main Street exhibition "Crossroads: Change in Rural America," visit the DeKalb County History Center's website, dekalbcountyhistory.org, or call 815-895-5762.