Report on School and Teacher Programs
“If there are hard times, we have to get through them and have hope.�
Education at the Museum of Jewish Heritage For a student visitor, a trip to the Museum can affect the way the student perceives history and his or her role in it. Many of the artifacts that students see in the Museum are familiar objects similar to ones they have in their own homes. Through dialogue, Gallery Educators help students find their places in history. To see students captured by an artifact, to watch their faces as they absorb the story of the Holocaust or to hear them pose a question is evidence of their engagement with the Museum’s content. It is our hope that a student who visits the Museum leaves with a better understanding of the diversity of Jews and Jewish life, a better understanding of the history of the Holocaust, and a heightened consciousness of the danger of stereotypes and prejudice. Although students spend only a short time at the Museum, it is our belief that the conversations they have while they are here can create a lasting impact. The topics that students explore during their visits are varied — from immigration, to Nazi racism, to Jewish culture — and each of these has the power to change the way in which a student views the world, if discussed with seriousness and within context. We hope students will continue the conversation begun at the Museum with their peers and families. The Museum’s 2015-2016 school year was characterized by ongoing dedication to serving students and teachers with exceptional educational programs, and reaching new constituents through partnerships. Thank you for your ongoing support. I look forward to our work together in the coming year. To learn more about the Education Department and our programs, please contact me. Elizabeth Edelstein, Director of Education eedelstein@mjhnyc.org 646.437.4274
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By the Numbers During the 2015-2016 school year:
37,855 students
160
hours
70%
professional development provided to teachers
student visitors from public schools
toured the Museum
1,180 in 5,500+ teachers26 students on buses funded by generous donors
84%
countries
used Coming of Age online curriculum
68% student visitors from NYC
student visitors from middle and high school
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former interns now Museum staff
Programs Tours Serving as a vital resource for teachers, the Museum taught 37,855 students the history they are required to learn in order to meet local and national educational standards. Small groups of students in guided, dialogue-based tours engaged with the Museum’s content. Close examination of the artifacts sparked a desire to discover their stories, enlivening history education for students.
Gallery Educators led
2,920 tours
“It gave me more insight into the past, beyond our textbook, which was focused on Hitler.” — Ryan Lamot, 9th Grade, Brooklyn College Academy High School
for small groups of 12 students through the galleries this year.
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Yemei Iyyun (Days of Study) Challenging students to address difficult issues raised by the Shoah through intellectually meaningful and age-appropriate study, the Museum offered 27 day-long programs of study for students in Jewish schools this year. Designed in partnership with classroom teachers for each school, Yemei Iyyun helped students understand the significance of the Holocaust for “It made me realize how Jewish identity and for world history through necessary it is fight for what you gallery study, lecture and discussion, believe in.” examination of texts, and Holocaust — 10th grader, Magen David Yeshiva survivor testimony.
1,214 students participated in Yemei Iyyun this year.
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Interfaith Living Museum Creating opportunities for friendship and understanding between Jews and Muslims through the Interfaith Living Museum, we brought together fifth graders from two Jewish and two Islamic day schools over the course of a semester to study family artifacts from their respective religions and heritages and develop a mini-museum. This year we worked with the four schools we have worked with for the past four years: Islamic Leadership School in the Bronx, Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan, Al Ihsan Academy in Queens, and Kinneret Day School in Riverdale. Research about improving relationships between groups in conflict, as reported in The New York Times on August 22, 2014, demonstrated that young people “who were able to form just one close relationship with someone from the other group were the ones who developed the most positive attitudes toward the other group.” We believe this supports the underlying mission of the Interfaith Living Museum, a program we have offered every year since 2006.
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jewish and muslim students
“Before we met for the first time I thought I would be meeting people who were way different from me. But I loved every second, every detail, every person I worked with. We learned about each other’s way of life and helped create peace among ourselves and our religions.” — IFLM Student
got to know each other through the Interfaith Living Museum this year.
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Internships High School Apprenticeship Program Recognizing the importance of peer learning, the High School Apprenticeship Program prepared 15 NYC public school students of diverse backgrounds to lead tours about Jewish heritage for young summer day camp visitors. The program also fostered college and careerreadiness by engaging the Apprentices in a semester-long program of study, followed by full-time, paid employment in the summer. As the Apprentices rotated throughout the Museum’s departments, they invigorated the daily routine of the Museum offices with a spirit of inquiry and the excitement of discovery resulting from the close mentoring relationships between staff and Apprentices. High School Apprentices received
235 hours
of career-readiness preparation at the Museum.
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“This program was not merely a summer job, but an opportunity. The High School Apprenticeship facilitated our first steps into adulthood. ” — Joshua Morrison, Class of 2016
Professional Development Supporting teachers in their responsibility to provide high levels of student learning, the Museum offered professional development opportunities throughout the year. By tailoring programs to meet teachers’ needs, we ensured that students received quality education about Jewish history. Professional development workshops and courses provided historical content and pedagogical methodology for teachers of all grades from public, Jewish, Catholic, and independent schools.
2,150 teachers
attended professional development workshops and courses this year.
“This workshop was fascinating. It highlighted the importance of understanding historical context and that the circumstances were unprecedented. I learned that Jews resisted and took action in many different ways. It makes me re-think how I have always thought about the Holocaust. This is a whole new perspective and it is invaluable. ” — High school history teacher
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Gallery Educators Helping visitors make connections between what they see in the galleries and their own lives, Gallery Educators, the Museum’s volunteer docents, led tours this year for 37,855 students and 1,500 adults. The vast majority of the dedicated and passionate corps of about 250 Gallery Educators has volunteered with the Museum for several years. We offered five in-service seminars to ensure that the Gallery Educators are provided with current research and, in this way, present the highest quality tours for visitors.
100%
of teachers
who brought their students for tours reported that Gallery Educators advanced their students’ understanding of the history of the Holocaust.
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“The tour broadened my perspective on the Holocaust and eliminated some myths for me. It is important that we learn about the past so we may understand the future.” — Diana Gueye, 10th grade, Martin Luther King Jr. High School for Law, Advocacy, and Community Justice
Speakers Bureau Fulfilling our mission to serve as a “Living Memorial,” we arranged for more than 180 opportunities for students and adults to hear from Holocaust survivors across the tri-state region this year, in intimate classroom-sized groups or auditoriums of hundreds. Responding to the urgency to create as many opportunities as possible, we continued our monthly program called the Sunday Speaker Series. This series takes place on the first Sunday of each month for walk-up visitors. Talks feature Holocaust survivors and WWII veterans who address 10 to 40 enthralled Museum visitors. Providing a meaningful day of commemoration on May 5, Yom HaShoah, we were fortunate to welcome nine artifact donors, who spoke with more than 400 students and other visitors in the galleries about their artifacts and their experiences.
8,030
students
& 1,700 adults
heard testimony from members of our Speakers Bureau this year.
“Her story is so sad, and yet at the same time incredibly uplifting. It’s really amazing what we can learn about human strength and hope. I’m glad to have gotten the chance to meet her.”
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Online Our Coming of Age During the Holocaust, Coming of Age Now website attracted more than 100 teachers to register and thousands of other users by featuring compelling stories and videos of 13 survivors who share their experiences about life before, during, and after the Holocaust. These stories are integrated with artifacts and primary sources for investigation, writing, history, and geography activities, timelines, and maps as well as moderated online student discussions. Visit www.comingofagenow.org to learn more.
The Living MuseumŽ teaches fifth and sixth grade students in Jewish schools how they can connect to Jewish history and their family heritage through the study and presentation of their family’s artifacts. The website, www.living-museum.org, now features 90 Living Museum school exhibitions, five of which were added this year.
Photography: All photographs by Melanie Einzig except for: photo on page 5 by Lei Wang; photo on page 6 by Elena Oliva; photos on pages 14-15 by Melanie Einzig, Elizabeth Edelstein, Alec Weissman, and Lei Wang.
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Grateful Acknowledgements School and Teacher Programs at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust were made possible through the generous support of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany: Rabbi Israel Miller fund for Shoah Research, Documentation and Education; Fanya Gottesfeld Heller; the David Himelberg Foundation in memory of David and Rose Himelberg; Patti Askwith Kenner; Heda Lieberman Memorial Fund for Education; Jewish Community Youth Foundation; Metzger-Price Fund; the Museum Community Fund; New York City Council Members Margaret Chin, Chaim Deutsch, Ben Kallos, and Mark Levine; The Pinkerton Foundation; George and Martha Rich Youth Education Fund; The Leo Rosner Foundation; Sol Rosenkranz and Family Fund; and The Slomo and Cindy Silvian Foundation, Inc.
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