Flossmoor Veterans Memorial Inc.’s “Time Machine” doesn’t need flashing lights or a stainless-steel DeLorean to transport students through history. Instead, it relies on something more powerful: the real stories of local men and women who served.

Now in its second year, the immersive program invites seventh and eighth graders to step into Flossmoor’s past and uncover the lives behind the names. Launched in October 2024 in partnership with Flossmoor School District 161, the weeklong, standards-based curriculum explores the service and sacrifice of community veterans. 

This year, students from Infant Jesus of Prague School joined Parker Junior High in the experience.

Inspired by Frankfort’s 1979 “Time Machine” project, Flossmoor’s version adds a modern, hands-on approach. Developed by educator, writer, and FVM Secretary-Treasurer Kristine M. Condon, Ed.D., the curriculum challenges students to work with primary sources, photographs, and personal histories, transforming research into storytelling. 

The result is both an academic exercise and a personal journey — one that earned the Illinois State Historical Society’s 2025 “Best of Illinois History” award for public and educational programming.

The week begins with voices from the community. Condon, retired Flossmoor mayor and FVM President Paul Braun, Wally Burns VFW Commander John Beele (Cpl. E4, U.S. Marine Corps), and veteran Tony Manos (Petty Officer 1st Class, U.S. Navy) share their firsthand experiences with each class.

“FVM’s mission focuses on community engagement, education and civic awareness,” Braun said. “Our students are the next generation of community leaders.”

After learning about the purpose and history of the Time Machine project, students take the lead. Each student chooses one of four independent activities: researching and presenting a veteran tribute, interviewing and reporting on a veteran family member, creating a poster about a branch of the Armed Forces, or designing a personal vision of a Wall of Honor.

As the week unfolds, students piece together timelines, trace family histories, and discover connections that bring the past into the present. Each class then collaborates to design and build a model that reflects its collective vision for Flossmoor’s future Veterans Memorial using a kit of materials supplied by FVM Inc.

At Infant Jesus of Prague, one of those connections hit especially close to home.

Teacher Trish Ladner watched as her students learned about Lt. Cmdr. Patrick Jude Murphy, a Naval reservist killed on Sept. 11, 2001, when American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon. Murphy wasn’t just a name in a lesson — he had once sat in the same classrooms.

“This was the math room when we were at IJP,” Ladner told her students. “He might have been sitting right where you are.”

She remembered Murphy as “super smart and nice,” a student who went on to Marian Catholic High School and the University of Mississippi, where he joined ROTC before beginning his military career.

“He went on to do great things,” she said. “But it started here.”

Moments like that set the Time Machine apart from traditional history lessons. History becomes immediate, personal, and tangible — not distant dates, but stories rooted in familiar places.

This year’s completed projects are on display at the Flossmoor Public Library through May 31, and voting for the best interpretation of Flossmoor’s future Veterans Memorial continues through May 20, with results announced May 21. 

Community members can vote in person or online. The winning class will receive a pizza party courtesy of Aurelio’s, while the second-place class will be treated to Kids Cones from Flossmoor’s Original Rainbow Cone.

For students, however, the greatest reward goes beyond prizes. It is the realization that history isn’t somewhere far away — it’s right here, waiting to be discovered.

Photos of the 17 models competing in this year’s “Time Machine” competition can be viewed and voted on at the Flossmoor Library or via this link.