{"id":33064,"date":"2017-06-22T17:00:48","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T22:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tmn.fhsu.edu\/?p=33064"},"modified":"2017-06-22T17:00:48","modified_gmt":"2017-06-22T22:00:48","slug":"fhsu-grad-lives-for-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=33064","title":{"rendered":"FHSU Grad Lives For History"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of Fort Hays State University Relations and Marketing\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

By Randy Gonzales<\/span><\/p>\n

HAYS, Kan. — Even though he was living half a continent away in the Pacific Northwest, Andrew Demko was able to learn more about his passion while earning a history degree from Fort Hays State University.<\/span><\/p>\n

Demko, who teaches history and social studies in Rainier, Ore., completed his Master of Liberal Studies degree with a social studies emphasis through FHSU\u2019s Virtual College in 2005.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll the programs were really, really nice; I enjoyed the classes,\u201d Demko said. \u201cI was working full-time as a teacher and I was looking for a program that was history related and I could still work. Fort Hays State had a program that would work for me to get my master\u2019s degree.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Demko, who has taught for about 20 years, engages his students through living history. There isn\u2019t just book learning in his classes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Demko, who already enjoyed living history before becoming a teacher, has portrayed characters from the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and the Lewis and Clark expedition, among others. His favorite periods in history would include the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do living history with my students,\u201d said Demko, who teaches seventh-grade geography, eighth-grade U.S. history and ninth-grade world history. \u201cIt\u2019s a passion, something I enjoy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Demko formed a history club at Rainier Jr.\/Sr. High School. The National History Club — which has more than 550 chapters in 44 states — names the top 10 clubs nationwide each year. Demko\u2019s history club has placed in the top 10 three times.<\/span><\/p>\n

Demko\u2019s club had about 20 students this past school year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have kids who are interested (in history), and those kids are your club members,\u201d Demko said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Teaching history is important, Demko said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s teaching kids about citizenship, knowing something about their country,\u201d he said. \u201cCurrent events affect us. What is our government doing? It\u2019s being aware of what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Adding living history to his teaching method has enhanced his students\u2019 learning, Demko said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the kids will tell you they\u2019ve learned more doing that,\u201d he said. \u201cFor a teacher, that inspires you more, too. You see kids getting it, out there doing living history.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Demko got a lot out of his FHSU education, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe classes were interesting,\u201d he said. \u201cI had one class in civil rights — very interesting. Another one, early man and beliefs in history, I learned a lot in that class. The history department was outstanding.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

FHSU helped Demko become a better teacher.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEducation-wise, I wanted to advance,\u201d he said. \u201cYou want to improve as a history teacher. I tell my kids you want to know the latest out there. That\u2019s how you know the latest — you go back to school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Demko, 48, first became involved with living history in the late 1980s while working as a volunteer guide at Fort Nisqually in Washington. He saw others dressed as costumed interpreters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where my interest got started,\u201d Demko said. \u201cIt\u2019s more than just reading a book — you\u2019re actually doing it. It brings it alive. I\u2019ve learned more doing that than reading it out of a book.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Demko has been part of re-enactments at Fort Nisqually, now a living history museum in Tacoma, Wash., the Oregon Trail and military ones, too. Through networking with other re-enactors, Demko finds his period clothes or has them made.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an expensive hobby, but it\u2019s fun,\u201d Demko said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Demko dreams of being a volunteer at colonial Williamsburg or being one of those bus tour guides in Washington, D.C. when he is retired.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s in the future. Now, Demko lives for living history, for his students. He makes the past come alive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI take the kids to Fort Clatsop every year, which is the Lewis and Clark fort,\u201d Demko said. \u201cThe next day, I dress up as Clark. I have the tri-corner hat and buckskin look.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of Fort Hays State University Relations and Marketing\u00a0 By Randy Gonzales HAYS, Kan. — Even though he was living half a continent away in… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11092,11],"tags":[11132,69,106,103,1495],"class_list":["post-33064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-news","tag-andrew-demko","tag-fhsu","tag-fort-hays-state-university","tag-tiger-media-network","tag-tigermedianet"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33064\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}