The Personal History Project, American High School, Fremont CA

15 April 2024

Fremont CA. April 2024 – In his 10^th year teaching world history at American High School, Mr. Wali Noori guides his sophomores through a deepened learning experience he is developing and refining year by year. Inspired by the Personal Creed Project, the Personal History Project also guides students to identify and reflect on the main influences that have shaped their lives to this point. But the Personal History Project asks students to then focus their reflections more narrowly in two distinct areas. They first zero in on events in their lives. Which four events in your life history so far have had the most impact on you? And what is the nature of that impact? Then Mr. Noori’s project asks students to think beyond the influence of single events to ways in which their lives are shaped by historical trends such as immigration, technology, war, and climate change. The Personal History Project now also asks students to reflect on what values the influences that have shaped them are teaching them to stand for.

Before Mr. Noori’s students stand in front of the class to present their findings in this project, they witness their teacher’s own presentation, “From Refugee in the Back to Teacher in the Front.” His students see the deadly rockets he and his family watched passing over the roof of their home before they fled Afghanistan, the cockroaches crisscrossing their kitchen in the projects in Oakland, and the middle school field trip to UC Berkeley that opened his eyes to a future in education. Mr. Noori’s students see how his journey in life has inspired him to stand for the perseverance he points to among his values. Wali’s journey helps his 15-16 year-old students begin to trace their own journeys in life. 

Mr. Noori’s presentation also generated excitement at the Personal Creed Organization’s April Community Day, where Wali shared his project with members of eight different graduating classes. Wali Noori seems to fit right in at the PCO — as an innovator developing his original version of a two-legged approach to teaching and learning — and as the best kind of good friend.