Standing on the beaches of Normandy one morning, Oksana Kleven was struck by how still it was.
The Waunakee high schooler and her teacher, Heather McCumber, were there as part of the Albert H. Small Normandy Institute, a program that teaches participants about the 1944 Normandy Invasion. And, they were there at the exact time the campaign started.
“It was quiet. The sun had just come up, and I was trying to picture it,” said McCumber. “It was so peaceful and beautiful there. It was hard to wrap your mind around what it would have been like.”
Kleven is an incoming senior and McCumber teaches social studies at Waunakee High School. McCumber was Kleven’s first choice when she was looking for a teacher-mentor to accompany her to Normandy and team up with her in the program.
Conducted through George Washington University, the program accepts only 15 student-teacher teams annually from around the country.
Word of their acceptance came over Christmas break.
McCumber said, “Someone had emailed you, ‘I guess you’re going to France.’”
Kleven was at work and wasn’t answering her phone. Her mom called her work phone to give her the news.
“Because she saw the email first, and she was asking me if it was a scam or not,” laughed Kleven. “No, it’s really a program we applied for.”
Always fascinated by history and World War II, Kleven took an Advanced Placement European History class this year. She’s also interested in studying different languages, French in particular.
For her part, McCumber had never heard of the program. She’d never even gone overseas before.
“I’ve never traveled to Europe, never done educational travel,” said McCumber. “So, it was like, ‘Okay, this sounds interesting.’ I’ve taught World War II and that. I had no real expectation of how many people applied or would get accepted, but I said, ‘It’s worth a try.’”
Once they were accepted, the two studied the Normandy Invasion between January and June, with both receiving the same weekly assignments.
During a sand ceremony, Oksana Kleven rubs sand on the headstone of Sgt. Peter S. Mackiewicz, a Wisconsin soldier killed in action during the Normandy Invasion.
“It actually wasn’t that bad at all,” said Kleven. “We had to both do the exact same assignments. All the teachers do the same work as the students do, so we would just every other week get the assignment and every other week have a Zoom meeting to talk about the assignment, and every single assignment was pretty similar.”
To McCumber, it was like a college semester course. She said it had been a while since she’d been in one. There were primary and secondary readings, class discussions, lectures and films. They also had to do a research project on a soldier currently buried in the Normandy American Cemetery in France. It was the culminating project and will be archived at the Normandy American Cemetery at Omaha Beach.
McCumber and Kleven chose Peter S. Mackiewicz, who enlisted in Madison but came from a family in New Lisbon. Killed in action on July 4th, 1944, while part of the D-Day campaign, Mackiewicz was in the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment.
Initially, they hoped to write about a local soldier, but it didn’t work out.
Before going to France, the group spent time in Washington, D.C., visiting museums and different memorials. In France, they did a lot of the same things, with some exceptions.
Waunakee teacher Heather McCumber and student Oksana Kleven spent time in Paris as part of their participation in this summer's Albert H. Small Normandy Institute.
“I didn’t know before going to France how much World War II tourism there is, and what’s really marketed to tourists — so a lot of things to see that have to do with World War II,” said Kleven.
They stayed mainly in Normandy while in France. Students would give briefings when they went to various beaches, like Omaha, Gold, Juno, Utah and Sword. Kleven gave hers on Women in World War II, specifically Normandy.
“Everybody just gathered around and stood on the beach, and I just had my note cards and gave my briefing,” said Kleven. “We passed some photos around in sleeve holders. The briefing was a collaborative effort between me and Ms. McCumber, so we divided it up into sections — like I’m going to work on this part and she’s going to work on this part. We would do Zoom meetings every now and then or at school or whatever. We’d stay after school and work on it, and we’d pretty much do the same for our soldier bio, too.”
At the Normandy American Cemetery, Kleven gave a remembrance presentation on Mackiewicz’s life and WWII service and participated in a sand ceremony, taking sand from Omaha Beach to highlight Mackiewicz’s name on his headstone.
Although they were unable to glean many details of his civilian life, outside of the fact that he worked in a lumber mill and his family were Polish immigrants and Catholic.
They found more specific information from his military period, although some of it was confusing. During the war, his battalions were reorganized frequently. As for his personal life, they tried to provide context of what his life might have been like through a great deal of research.
“Just kind of trying to build out the story of what he would have experienced growing up, the context of his life, because we didn’t have a lot of specific details,” said McCumber.
Even finding a photo proved impossible.
By taking part in the program, though, Kleven gained a greater appreciation for what soldiers had to go through.
“Of course, I knew things about World War II, like the cause and effect and everything like that — stuff you learn in school,” said Kleven, “but I got a way deeper understanding from the program. We went in depth on every single aspect, especially learning about what was going on in Europe, not just through an American lens.”
They also visited many museums and memorials along the way, which made her realize how frightening the war must have been.
Waunakee high schooler Oksana Kleven stands beside the grave of Wisconsin soldier Sgt. Peter S. Mackiewicz, who died in the Normandy Invasion.
“I remember we went to this one museum, they designed it to make you feel like you were in a glider, like about to jump out,” said Kleven. “They painted little houses, and you’re on this balcony, and it had the sounds coming. It was terrifying.”
McCumber recalls the recordings of soldiers yelling and houses exploding.
“It really did give you the feeling of how scary it was,” said McCumber.
Kleven is hoping to go back one day, especially because she wants to be a French teacher.
“That’s something I would look forward to if it works out that way,” said Kleven.
McCumber said she appreciated how the program presented a lot of individual experiences to participants, including those of soldiers and French civilians.
“So, I think it just gives that more personalized aspect that I can weave into things I teach,” said McCumber.