When sophomore Henley Lynch submitted her application in early October for the Sacrifice for Freedom: World War II in the Pacific Student & Teacher Institute program, she was not expecting to hear back. In December, she received an email revealing she had been selected as one of sixteen students to travel to Hawaii this summer. 

The program is organized by National History Day. To apply, students are tasked with writing an essay on why World War II, specifically in the Pacific theater, was an important piece in history to them.

“I have always been interested in history, but I had a connection to this topic because my grandfather was a soldier on the USS Indianapolis, so I wrote about him and how that impacted my life now,” Lynch said.

The program is not NC-affiliated, but the opportunity was promoted by multiple NC teachers, partly due to the student-teacher collaboration aspect of the application. The student chooses a faculty member to help contribute to the application. If the pair is selected, the teacher and student travel to Hawaii together.

“Mrs. Achgill, who works in the library, approached me and made me aware of the opportunity. We discussed how I would go about writing my essay,” Lynch said.

Achgill had to submit an application as well. The teacher application portion is similar to the students’ in that they both submit an essay stating their interest or connection to World War II. The teacher application program has extra steps that include a teacher philosophy statement and a two-page resume. The teacher also has to include in their essay how the program will impact their professional development.

Achgill and Lynch will travel to Honolulu, Hawaii in July this summer for a two-week, expense-paid historical experience.

“Now that I am selected, I’ve just had some homework to learn more about the time period and research some of the sights we will be seeing in Oahu,” Lynch said. “I am super excited to meet the other winners and experience the summer in Oahu.”