BROOKINGS — Waverly-South Shore School teacher Brett Brennan and student Emily Heuer make up one of 16 high school teacher-student teams from across the nation selected to participate in Sacrifice for Freedom: World War II in the Pacific Student & Teacher Institute.

The all-expenses-paid program offers an opportunity to study World War II history on Oahu, Hawaii, next summer.

National History Day and its sponsors — the Pearl Harbor Historic Site Partners, which includes the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, Pacific Historic Parks, Battleship Missouri Memorial, and the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum at Pearl Harbor — selected the pairs as a way to connect the past with the present and future.

This program provides an opportunity for each team to research the context of World War II in the Pacific and specifically, the life of a Silent Hero who died during World War II and is buried in or memorialized at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The duos will select a Silent Hero from the same region they are from — a true hometown hero. The culmination of six months of research and preparation will lead the teams to Hawaii, where they will share their “eulogies” of their Silent Hero graveside at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

“Programs like this one help to share the true sacrifice of freedom. It allows young students, our future leaders, to honor those who have paved the way for their future success. It’s such an honor to have these students and teachers sharing the stories of their hometown heroes in hopes that it will further connect them to a war fought so many years ago,” said Neil Yamamoto, education outreach coordinator, Battleship Missouri Memorial. “As much as history comes alive for them while here visiting, they are the ones who keep it alive in their classrooms and communities.”

This year, 68 teams applied for the competitive summer institute. Selected teams hail from Arkansas, American Samoa, Arizona, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.

Past teacher participants noted that the institute was a significant professional development experience that changed how they viewed World War II in the Pacific. Student participants reported that the research and Hawaii-based learning activities challenged their thinking and expanded their perspective of history.

“This program makes history tangible as students trace the steps of soldiers and visit locations that were instrumental in the Pacific during World War II,” NHD Executive Director Cathy Gorn said. “Each year, when students read their eulogies for their Silent Heroes in Hawaii, I can see the deep meaningful connections that transcend time and place. The past becomes the present in that moment.”

At the culmination of the Sacrifice for Freedom program, the students will develop a Silent Hero profile to be published online during the 2023-24 academic year at NHDSilentHeroes.org.