Helping teens uncover the past as they live history

Martin Marrin, 62, a longtime social studies teacher at DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, is one of 10 finalists for the National History Teacher of the Year Award presented by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. He and his wife, Nancy, are empty nesters in Robbinsdale.

Q) Are you an early riser?

A) I wake up about 5:30 and ease into my day slowly, so I don’t have to leave for an hour and a half. I’ve learned that ritual from Nancy — being intentional and taking it slow.

Q) That must put you to bed pretty early.

A) I try for 9 pm. There’s a great book by Matthew Walker called “Why We Sleep.” I shared a huge presentation with my students. They have to be in charge of learning, but they also have to be in charge of knowing how their brain works. We talk about developing neuropathways. Sleep is a critical part of forming those neuropathways.

Q) That sounds like a healthy conversation! How do you help your students create more balance?

A) I try to remind them: Don’t let school get in the way of your education. For example, if students can give up a week of school to participate in the Minnesota Page Program, that’s worthwhile. In response to the murder of George Floyd, many have marched and demonstrated, and this civic engagement is critical for them.

Q) How does De’s LaSallian heritage inspire you?

A) I think of Jean-Baptiste de La Salle in France, reaching out to the marginalized. From my view, I’m looking out onto downtown Minneapolis, and I can’t help but think we’re in the middle of the city and we must reach out to all. It’s one thing to say, in words, but it’s another to let go of some of my biases and acknowledge my privilege and be really intentional about offering quality education for all. I’m always reminded that, in 15 years, the young people in front of me will be pulling the strings of society, and I want to make sure they’re ethically and morally and intellectually equipped to make a difference.

Q) What first cultivated your love of history?

A) Probably listening to family stories around the dinner table. And then the Sinsinawa Dominican sisters at Holy Rosary (in Minneapolis) carried it forward. Sister Janine, my fifth-grade teacher, had us make these really cool timelines. I can still remember it — it was like a Roman scroll. In seventh and eighth grade, Sister Marie Therese had us listen to primary sources. She played conversations from the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Q) How do you make history come alive for your students?

A) History doesn’t happen out there — if we look carefully, we can see it right here. Here’s an assignment I gave this past week: I want the students to walk through their neighborhood and chronicle the changes they see in architecture. From their notes, we’re going to look at some maps created by the New Deal Home Owners Loan Corporation. They were the premise for redlining in the Twin Cities. It shows students how decisions made 50, 60 years ago still have an impact today.

Q) What have your students taught you?

A) They’ve taught me to be patient. Their questions help me think about the world in a broader, deeper context.

Q) How do you ignite curiosity in teens?

A) Part of it is helping them ask better questions about the past. I’m always reminding them that history isn’t just what happened in the past; it’s created by people in the present asking questions. I share my thoughts about events, but I try not to tell them my answer or my perspective. I make sure we’re bringing in voices they might not hear because of social media platforms or the little information silos we tend to group ourselves in these days.

Q) Is TikTok working against teachers?

A) It’s easy for us old folks to say, “Social media is causing all sorts of problems.” I dare say my parents would’ve said the same thing about the television, and their parents about the telephone. I want to be careful not to blame students for technologies they’re sucked into. With that said, we want to make sure that, in the classroom, students are talking to each other, that they are maintaining eye contact. We’re forming human beings here, in a LaSallian Catholic school.

Q) You like to share a Henry Ford quote: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”

A) As long as I’m a teacher, I’m going to be a learner, and that helps me stay fresh and relevant. I just figured out something new about what was going on in colonial Virginia in the 1600s, and it’s like, “Ha! I thought I knew so much, but there’s still so much to learn.”

I read lots of newspapers online. And I read lots of books — lots and lots of mysteries. British mysteries, Scandinavian and Swedish mysteries. Good stories.

Q) How does one distinguish Swedish mysteries from, say, British?

A) The Swedish mysteries are a little darker, a little grittier. Sometimes it’s escapism. They’re entertaining, but they’re also well written — novelists like Henning Mankell, who weaves in politics and human rights.

Q) What do you do for fun on a Saturday?

A) During COVID, I got together with some of my old high school buddies and we’ve been playing catch and doing batting practice. Each of us has our own unique ailments. But it’s been fun to reconnect around an old familiar activity like throwing the ball around. It comes back to you.

Q) Do you have a go-to prayer?

A) We are always in the holy presence of God. Wherever I am, there goes the grace of God. There’s beauty in whatever situation we’re in. Sometimes that’s my prayer.