WILLISTON, N.D. - After completing a semester project interviewing veterans, WSC's Interpersonal Communication class will host a Veterans Symposium on December 7 to honor local veterans with the oral histories the 42 students collected. 

Veterans will receive a free meal at 5:00 p.m. sponsored by WSC and the WSC Foundation at the Williston ARC. Students will present the pre-approved oral histories at 7:00 p.m. Though the dinner is for veterans only, the symposium is free and open to the public. Grant Carns, Veteran Service Officer for Williams County, will host the presentation portion.

"The idea came about after Grant and I spoke at the Veterans event last year at WSC," explained Kim Weismann, WSC's Interpersonal Communication Instructor. "I always do a service component in the Interpersonal Communication classes, so I decided to pursue the idea. The students could practice their communication skills while they collected important information about our history."  

ultiple components made up this semester long project.  

"I had two local veterans who work in the Williston community talk to the students about interview etiquette and questions that would be acceptable," Weismann stated. "Each student had one veteran to interview. Some chose family members while others had veterans assigned to them."  

Students had the semester to meet and interview their veterans. Each student's final grade is based on a written and a speaking component. A website will be released after the Symposium which will store all of these oral histories in a central source where local veterans' stories can be accessed by the community.  

A food box for nonperishable items will remain at the Williston ARC for local veterans in need until WSC's Veterans Symposium, December 7.   For more information on WSC, please visit www.willistonstate.edu, call 1.888.863.9455, or stop by 1410 University Avenue, Williston, ND.