Final Report on School and Teacher Programs
These were real people, not just stories.
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 2014-2015 school year was characterized by ongoing dedication to serving students and teachers with exceptional educational programs, reaching new constituents through partnerships and innovative media, and establishing ongoing programming with and for the deaf community. 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 2013-2014 school year:
47,030 students
217
hours
Public Schools
70% student visitors from public schools
professional development provided to teachers
toured the Museum
990 in 5,000+ teachers23 students on buses funded by generous donors
countries
used Coming of Age online curriculum
50
schools across the Northeast Lipper Internship Partners
Middle and High School Students
81%
student visitors from middle and high school
11
former interns now Museum staff
57%
student visitors from NYC
Programs Tours Serving as a vital resource for teachers, the Museum taught 48,000 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
3,900 tours
“The trip to the Museum gave me a new perspective on what really happened. Our textbook has limits to pictures and information, but the Museum stretched our imagination past that boundary.” — Jenny Hernandez, 8th grade, De La Salle School
for small groups of 12 students through the galleries this year.
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Yemei Iyyun Challenging students to address difficult issues raised by the Shoah through intellectually meaningful and age-appropriate study, the Museum offered 17 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 Jewish “This program was very uplifting. identity and for world history through gallery It gave me a different outlook on that which happened, and study, lecture and discussion, examination of how to grow from it.” texts, and Holocaust survivor testimony. — 12th grader, Mesilas Bais Yaakov High School for Girls
930 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 same 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, carried out by Juliana Schroeder, a Ph.D. candidate in psychology and business, and Jane L. Risen, an associate professor of behavioral science, both at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, and 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.
67
jewish and muslim students
got to know each other through the Interfaith Living Museum this year.
“I never thought I would have opportunities to sit down with other students my age and share our religious beliefs for the purpose of understanding each other. Not only did I learn about their religion, I gained a deeper understanding of my own religion. The best part was working with my new friends knowing in my heart we pray to the same God.” — IFLM Student
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Internships Lipper Internship Reaching beyond the Museum’s immediate geographic area, the Lipper Internship taught college students to present a three-part classroom lesson and Museum tour program to public middle and high school students across the Northeast. The Lipper Internship served 7,035 students this year; students who would otherwise not have had the opportunity or the means to visit the Museum in New York City. The Lipper Internship also provided a growth opportunity for the Interns, many of whom go on to pursue academic or professional interests related to their experiences teaching about Jewish heritage and the Holocaust. Students at first-time Lipper schools reported increased levels of engagement and higher academic expectations on NYC DOE student surveys.
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“Many of my students express that this is the most important experience of their high school career. Many of them have never been to a museum before. This is a great program which provides my students with the chance to learn about the Holocaust in a very meaningful way” — History teacher Laurie Skop, Raritan High School, NJ
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 fulltime 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.
“Every time I led a tour I learned something new. I thought I might be the one teaching the kids, but I too learned while on the tours.” — High School Apprentice Lywana Dorzilor, Life Sciences Secondary School
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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.
1,965 teachers
attended professional development workshops and courses this year.
“This course has provided me with a wealth of information that has reshaped my mindset and changed my approach to teaching about the Holocaust. Now I will use the Museum’s artifacts in my lessons. The lectures helped me create a new narrative when educating others about the Holocaust.” — 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 46,800 students and 2,900 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.
“The tour made me feel that just by doing one small thing it can make a big impact. It made me feel better about myself because I know that I am the ‘future’s hope.’” — Lumie Muja, 10th grade, Edward R. Murrow High School
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Speakers Bureau Fulfilling our mission to serve as a “Living Memorial,” we arranged for nearly 150 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 began in March and takes place on the first Sunday of each month for walk-up visitors. Our talks feature Holocaust survivors and WWII veterans. Speakers usually address 10 – 40 enthralled Museum visitors at these events. Providing a meaningful day of commemoration on April 16, 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.
9,670
students
& 1,290 adults
heard testimony from members of our Speakers Bureau this year.
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“I wonder how such a small, young child was able to survive in those horrible times. It shows that physical endurance is not everything that counts. Without her strong personality, spiritual strength, and help from the others, she wouldn’t be the person she is. She was an inspiration to us all. Her story deeply touched me and it was an honor to be in her presence.”
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 Museum® 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 79 Living Museum school exhibitions, 11 of which were added this year.
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; the EGL Charitable Foundation; 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; The Pinkerton Foundation; The Leo Rosner Foundation; Sol Rosenkranz and Family Fund; The Slomo and Cindy Silvian Foundation, Inc., USA; and the Sue Wilder Charitable Fund at Our Fund, Inc. Photography: All photographs by Melanie Einzig except for those on the cover (bottom right) taken by Bonnie Unger, on page 14 (top) taken by Laura Bernier, and on page 15 (bottom left) taken by Caroline Earp.
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