Dr. Billy Michal and Madeleine LeBeau
The National WWII Museum awarded the Billy Michal Student Leadership Award to Madeleine LeBeau, a ninth-grade student at Chantilly High School. As a new part of the museum’s annual American Spirit Award ceremonies in New Orleans on June 9, the Michal Award recognized LeBeau in part for her work in developing an interactive experience designed to allow students to interact with World War II veterans, civilians, and survivors.
The project, entitled “iWitnessed — iRemember,” introduces students to 16 Americans (now living in Northern Virginia) who personally recount their experiences during the war in Europe, in the Pacific, on the homefront, and as a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp. These everyday American heroes then instruct the students on various skills used during the period, which the students have to apply to navigate one of two historically derived “escape challenges.” This experience, which began as LeBeau’s Girl Scout Gold Award project, will be distributed this summer to history teachers throughout the Commonwealth, in conjunction with Virginia’s WWI and WWII Commemoration Commission, and is also available online.
The museum added the Billy Michal Award as part of its annual American Spirit Awards, through which it has honored many Americans for their service to the country, including Tom Brokaw, Tom Hanks, President George H.W. Bush, and, in 2017, David McCullough, David Rubenstein, James Barksdale, Captain James Lovell, and Phyllis Taylor. The museum debuted the Billy Michal Award this year in order to recognize one student in every state that has demonstrated the American spirit in his or her community, including a record of volunteerism, leadership, and implementing creative solutions to recognized problems.