Dick Stender,

Quartermaster of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2667, has high

praise for Quesinberry's efforts to offer a living history experience

to his students.

"What

Steve has accomplished over the past three or four years is just extraordinary,"

said Stender.

"Our young

people are hearing first hand about why and where veterans have served

this nation in both peace and war. In just a few years, they will bear

the responsibility for our security, and educators like Steve ensure that

they know about the legacy of service which they are inheriting."

VFW post members

are helping Quesinberry in the Virtual Wall project, and Stender praised

Quesinberry for the work he has done on planning the new class.

"Newnan

High School and Steve are breaking new ground in the teaching of history,"

said Stender. "We are excited about the project and the class."

Quesinberry

is looking forward to the start of the new class in January.

"The average

high school history book," said Quesinberry, "is about two and

half inches thick and encompasses perhaps a thousand years. That means

that Vietnam era is covered in just a few pages. It was a time of great

turmoil, tragedy and heroic effort in this nation and always elicits more

student questions and interest than the normal history course has time

to address. We have an exciting and interesting course planned and I look

forward to the opportunity to teach it."

A major part

of the new course will have the students look at the twenty three lives

of the Cowetans who died during America's nearly twenty-year involvement

in Vietnam.

Like all the

58,229 service members who died there, they are engraved on the tablets

of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. "The Wall," as it

is best known, is the most visited memorial site in our nation's capitol.

As a part of the class, NHS students will participate in the Virtual Wall

project (www.thevirtualwall.org) whereby local citizens help "put

a face with a name" appearing on the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in

Washington D.C.

Thevirtualwall.org

is solely dedicated to the Vietnam Memorial.

"This

site contains a page for every name on the wall and there is room on each

page for personal information and a photo of the dead service member,"

said Quesinberry. "We want to strive to ensure that our native sons

are more than just names and dates. Each of our students will be assigned

one of those twenty-three and will research records and interview friends,

families and former military comrades when possible."

"So this

year we will be attempting to find photographs and histories of the men

that died in the Vietnam War from Coweta County," said Quesinberry.

"Student teams will be assigned men from this county that died in

Vietnam to find a photograph and any other information possible to post

on the Virtual Wall."

"What

the class needs is any information available about these men in order

to track down a picture or someone that knew them. Family members, names

of schools, known friends either locally or in another state are possible

contacts that may lead us to a photograph and/or a remembrance,"

he said.

"Newnan

High School feels that this type of project will be a great learning experience

for our students in a number of ways and that it will be good for the

community as a whole," said Quesinberry.

Those who can

help can call Quesinberry at Newnan High School, or can reach Stender

at the VFW Post 2667.