Perhaps freshmen will contribute life histories of community members. Sophomores could frame questions about social changes, such as how the community adapted to the introduction of electricity or automobiles. A senior civics class might focus on political processes, recognizing that one of the best ways to understand current issues is to study similar issues from the past. People disagreeing about whether or not to build a new school may suggest a research project into how things happened during a similar debate in the past. Some basic responsibilities can be considered.
Many towns have rest homes for community elders.
Each year, new people move into them. Perhaps a junior English class could take responsibility for seeing to it that every elder in the rest home has a chance to tell his or her story for the record. Young people feel the poignancy of assisting old people to provide a legacy no one else can provide. An art class might accept responsibility for contributing a photograph of a mountain or creek or the city park, taken from the same point on the same day, each year. The value of this record would increase each year that it was taken, and future researchers will be able to ask the collection questions that no one anticipates today.