Red Ball On A Roll

The National WWII Museum’s Red Ball Express mobile outreach program has been on a roll and on the road, delivering its brand of fun, hands-on WWII education to classrooms across the Greater New Orleans region.  Since January, the Red Ball Express has visited over a dozen schools and over 800 students in the 5 local parishes.

The Red Ball Express features interactive and exciting programming for every age group.  Here, high school students from New Orleans’ Sophie B. Wright School explore World War II through the handling and interpretation of wartime yearbooks; connecting with the Second World War on a personal level as they learn about the daily lives of their counterparts 70 years ago.

These 6^th and 7^th grade students from Atonement Lutheran School in Metairie and Bonne Ecole Elementary in Slidell learn about the significance of World War II events through a geography-based, team-work challenge in which students work together to identify and locate World War II events and locations on a giant, inflatable Earth ball using only latitude and longitude.  Students then employ a tape measure and map’s scale to construct a sign-post showing how far away these locations are from their school.  Once assembled, the sign post is the class’ to keep.

From Pittman Elementary School in Harvey, Louisiana, young learners plant their chosen seeds (radishes won the vote in this class) in their own Victory Garden in a presentation focusing on the important role young people played during the Second World War.  Other activities simulate a trip to the grocery store using ration points and the “magic” of transforming scrap materials into vital supplies needed for the war effort.

With many more school visits scheduled for April and May, the Red Ball Express is gassing up and getting prepared for a busy season on the road.

Teachers!  The Red Ball Express is available for booking for any school within a 60 mile radius of New Orleans, Louisiana.  Interested? Find out how you can bring the Red Ball Express to your classroom today!

Posted by Collin Makamson, Red Ball Express Coordinator at The National WWII Museum.