Students at North Haven High School (NHHS) came together on May 31 to hear from local eyewitnesses to history during an annual in-school field trip.

The field trip was started by social studies teacher Federico Fiondella 12 years ago, who says his inspiration for having students hear firsthand accounts of historic moments is as pertinent today as when he started the program.

“I feel that students don’t hear enough stories anymore. I was lucky growing up with an extended family, they were always sharing stories,” Fiondella said. “I thought it was a good idea for students to hear eyewitness accounts right from their mouths.”

Students heard from veterans, speech writers, professors, stock brokers, and others on topics ranging from the Woodstock music festival to the events of 9/11 and the war in Iraq.

“Unfortunately, over the years we’ve lost a few speakers because we had Holocaust survivors [and] World War II veterans and a few of them have passed now,” Fiondella said.

Fiondella said that he tries to bring in a few new speakers every year. Though it’s important to hear from military veterans, Fiondella said he also tries to bring in a mix of professions and experiences.

Students heard from North Branford Fire Department Captain John Florio, who was a 9/11 first responder, and from Allan Myer, a speechwriter for Ronald Reagan who once served on the National Security Council. Other speakers who worked in New York City as stock brokers at the time of the 9/11 attacks shared their accounts of that day and its aftermath with students, most of whom were born after the attack.

“All of these individuals have some community connection to North Haven,” Fiondella said.

Fiondella uses connections with the government, the American Legion, and even North Haven town and schools staff and faculty for help finding eyewitnesses to history. Many of the speakers end up being relatives of students or teachers.

“We’re very lucky. With just a couple emails, I get all this interest,” he said.

One parent shared the story of how she lost a friend at the Pentagon on 9/11 during a meeting she herself would have attended had she not been home. She instead watched the coverage of the attack on the World Trade Center.

Fiondella said that it’s important for students to hear firsthand accounts of the subjects they learn about in history class.

“Everything today is instant access,” he said. “Long gone are the days when [as a teacher] you’re just putting notes up…I think that visuals and just listening to the voices of people that were there—you can’t beat that. You’re going to get some information that’s so much more valuable than when you’re reading about it.”

The topics students heard about at Eyewitness to History are all topics related to their school curriculum. They were asked to prepare questions for the speakers and also will write a reflection on their favorite speaker in Fiondella’s class.

“They really enjoy sitting and listening and asking questions,” he said. “They’re valuable skills which they get to take out of all this.”