Mention the word “history” and many students and adults cringe with thoughts of memorizing dates for a test or visions of old and boring details told in a monologue fashion. That doesn’t have to be the case, however, and teachers worth their salt and education credentials go the extra mile to make sure students grasp the value of studying the past to shape the future. Students in Jay McNeely’s fifth grade class at Nevils Elementary School recently completed an assignment that showed they really got it.