This time on The Children’s Hour, we take a step back in time, to over 80 years ago. World War II was one of the biggest conflicts in human history, changing modern humanity forever. Learn about WWII from Ms. Teresa Rand Bridges’ bilingual 5th grade class at Alvarado Elementary, a public school in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

World War II was a painful time in American and world history. We will hear about where the United States stood, and how the war started in Europe. Ms. Rand Bridges’ fifth grade students present the story of Anne Franke, and we hear about a Jewish family who escaped thanks to two teenage penpals. This piece is from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 

The kids in Ms. Rand Bridges’ class explain how the United States came to enter the war, when a military outpost in Hawaii was bombed by the Japanese military. After Pearl Harbor, over 120,000 Japanese-Americans were imprisoned from March 1942 to November 1945. Producers Robin Amer and Jesse Seay talked with some of their survivors who were themeselves children in that long incarceration, from Listenwise Students.

The students teach us about the role women played in the war, including teaching about Victory Gardens in a bilingual piece.  Then we learn about the arsenal of weapons, ships and aircraft used by the Allied and Axis forces.  World War II was the most deadly conflict ever in human history, with nearly 52 million people killed worldwide.

World War II came to an end on September 2, 1945, when the final treaty was signed between the Americans and Japanese. The kids in Ms. Rand Bridges’ class are from the place where the nuclear bomb was developed and tested. They cover nuclear weapons and the part they played at the end of the war.

All the music we play in this episode either teaches about World War II or is from that era.

Thank you to the students in Ms. Rand Bridges’ bilingual fifth grade class who researched, wrote and voiced their work on today’s show: Anekyn M, Alma Rose MH, Yaired MA, Ashely E, Rocco G, Allan CB, Melissa M, Emma P, Diego M, Luciano N, Jurem CB, Owen M, Jarel N, and Isabel S. and to their amazing teacher, Ms. Teresa Rand Bridges. 

This episode was recorded by Teresa Rand Bridges at the Alvarado Elementary School in Albuquerque, New Mexico and produced by Katie Stone, Senior Producer, Christina Stella with help from Producer Rodrigo Cuenca, Sarah Gabrielli and Thaniel Lentz.

The Children’s Hour is distributed by Native Voice One: The Native American Radio Network.

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Please note: not all songs we play can be found in Spotify.