BEMIDJI — Oftentimes, the best way to learn history is to hear directly from the source.

Students in Jeff Aas’ “History Through Film” class did exactly that as they visited the Bemidji Veterans Home to interview local vets last week.

Given the name of the class, the idea for the project arose when students began watching the events of World War I.

“We’re learning about history through different films and when we got to World War I, I brought in some family heirlooms, my grandfather’s uniform, helmet … and that struck a chord with a few of the kids,” Aas said. "They would say, 'I have this from my grandpa from World War II or my great uncle's keepsake from this war.'

“I said that they should really write stories about (their own family heirlooms) so those stories don’t get lost.”

Aas w

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