‘Stories from the Heart of Watford City:’ 7th Graders to publish book on community leaders
M.K. French
Farmer Staff Writer
Walk down the streets of Watford City, and you’ll pass dozens of bustling storefronts and offices. For many local youth, these are just buildings. But thanks to an innovative new project at Watford City Middle School, local seventh graders are discovering the rich human stories, hard work, and dedication that are the pulse of that thriving city scene.
Earlier this month, the seventh-grade English classrooms transformed into a lively press room for a community-based project titled “Stories from the Heart of Watford City.” The ambitious initiative, spearheaded by first-year ELA teachers Alyssa Griffin and Nataly Reyes, brought more than 40 local business owners and community members into the school. Their mission was to sit down with seventh-grade students for face-to-face, professional interviews that will ultimately be published in a commemorative book.
For Griffin and Reyes, the inspiration behind the project came from a desire to push education beyond traditional classroom walls and help students connect the dots between their daily surroundings and the local history being made around them. “We wanted to move beyond the general classroom experience,” Griffin and Reyes shared. “In seventh grade, students are at an important age where they are beginning to look toward the future. We realized that while our students live here, they don’t always know the purpose behind the businesses they pass every day. With Watford City growing and changing every day, now feels like the perfect time to expose our students to the history and diverse experiences of the people who built this community.”
The teachers emphasized that ELA is fundamentally about storytelling and human connection. By introducing real-world stakes, the lesson objectives quickly took on a deeper meaning. “When a student is using these skills in the presence of a community member, the stakes are much higher and more rewarding,” they noted.
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