NITRO, W.Va. — A teacher at Nitro High School will be the Co-Head Teacher for the 2020 and 2021 distinguished Albert H. Small Normandy Institute.
Kizmet Chandler, Career and Work Skills Coordinator at Nitro HS, was selected by institute officials in Washington D.C. to help lead the effort in teaching students about D-Day efforts and freedom the next two years.
“I keep pinching myself saying ‘wow I was really selected to do this.’ I cannot wait to get started and work with the Institute for the next two years,” Chandler told 580-WCHS.
The Albert H. Small Normandy Institute is an intensive program to learn about the D-Day Campaign of 1944 and the sacrifices made by young Americans to defeat tyranny and concentrates on the idea that Freedom is not Free, a release said.
15 student-teacher teams are selected every year to participate in the institute in conjunction with George Washington University. Nitro senior Emily Rinick will team up with Chandler once again. The pair will continue their research of Mitchell Bacon, a service member from West Virginia that was killed and buried in Normandy. Each student-teacher pair will do the same with someone from their state.
Chandler was selected as co-head for her role at the institute in 2019. She said her ability to work with teachers and students from all over the country, as well as her ability to perform in various situations stuck out to leadership.
A release said institute members will travel to the campus of George Washington for a series of lectures and activities to deepen their understanding of elements of conflict. The student-teacher pair will then gather information on the selected veteran and write a biography then eulogy.
A “staff ride” rounds out the activities in Washington D.C., where the groups will visit many of the sites that played a role in the Normandy Campaign in France.
Chandler said out of all the events and activities, her favorite thing about the institute is watching the students grow.
