Peshtigo High School sophomores learn to negotiate in American history class
Peshtigo students Reice Baker and Jenson Schwittay practice negotiating as part of a lesson in American history.
PESHTIGO — In the fall of 1941, diplomats from the United States State Department were given a top secret mission: To negotiate a peace agreement with the Japanese.
Peshtigo teacher Stephanie Gardner tasked her sophomore American history students to role play the positions of negotiators for both sides, learning the complexities of navigating through World War II, prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
“Getting students to interact with historical problems makes it more engaging and interesting,” she said.
The United States was looking to stay out of WWII. America and Japan had different interests related to trade, China, Indochina, and the Tripartite Pact between Japan, Germany and Italy.
Student Brodey Kamps said, “I learned that making these types of decisions is harder than it seems.”
Gardner adds, “Interacting with historical problems helps students become invested in the solution. They learn that the attempts of the diplomats in real life failed and that a compromisewas never reached.”
Students shared what they learned from the lesson.
“It’s really hard to come to a reasonable agreement for both parties to become satisfied with,” Madi Raygo said.
Chase Chaney added, “It’s very hard to avoid war if both countries don’t agree on something.”
While Nico Fox noted, “Countries only want negotiations to their benefit.”
Laurana Mines said, “I was surprised America and Japan couldn’t keep peace. My group was able to, so that surprised me.”
“Problem solving, learning to analyze options and finding solutions are really important for students to learn in their personal lives and careers,” Gardner said, adding that she tries to find activities for students that will benefit them and apply to their lives.
“We try to help students develop skills in school to inspire them, to work on higher level thinking skills, and to improve communication skills,” she said.
This article was submitted by the Peshtigo School District.
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