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Chicago Daily Herald, IL
May 25 2008
Student museum displays tragedy
7th-graders create museum marking man's worst chapters
By Corrinne Hess | Daily Herald Staff
A cinder-block gymnasium at Millburn Central has been transformed into
a public museum detailing some of the world's most horrific human
acts.
Seventh-graders have spent more than a month creating the school's
first Holocaust and Genocide Museum.
"I had heard about Darfur on the news, but didn't realize this is
still happening," said Chelsea Visser, 13. "All of these people are
dying and not much has been done to help them."
Students wrote research papers, made posters and audio recordings,
created a PowerPoint presentation and wrote poems about various
current and historical instances of genocide, including Darfur, Rwanda
and the Rape of Nanjing.
An entire wall in the small gymnasium is dedicated to the Holocaust.
David Schroeder, social studies teacher in charge of the project, said
while the topic is depressing and somber, the students got very
excited about it.
"They put their hearts and souls into the project," Schroeder
said. "In my mind, I knew this had the potential to be great. I had to
just keep telling them this is going to be powerful and it will make a
statement."
The results have indeed been powerful.
Since opening May 15, the museum has attracted dozens of parents and
community members.
Sixth-graders at the Wadsworth school have spent the last week
visiting the genocide museum and detailing their feelings afterward.
"The museum was terrific and horrific," said sixth-grader Ben
Mueller. "I learned a ton of things, and I realized what types of
things are going on that I didn't even know about."
Sixth-grader Cydney Salvador said a family member died in the Armenian
Genocide during World War I, so the museum was very personal for her.
"I am angered by this," she said. "They murdered all of these people,
and for what? I wish I could stop it all from happening."
http://www.dailyherald.com/story /?id=197376&src=3
May 25 2008
Student museum displays tragedy
7th-graders create museum marking man's worst chapters
By Corrinne Hess | Daily Herald Staff
A cinder-block gymnasium at Millburn Central has been transformed into
a public museum detailing some of the world's most horrific human
acts.
Seventh-graders have spent more than a month creating the school's
first Holocaust and Genocide Museum.
"I had heard about Darfur on the news, but didn't realize this is
still happening," said Chelsea Visser, 13. "All of these people are
dying and not much has been done to help them."
Students wrote research papers, made posters and audio recordings,
created a PowerPoint presentation and wrote poems about various
current and historical instances of genocide, including Darfur, Rwanda
and the Rape of Nanjing.
An entire wall in the small gymnasium is dedicated to the Holocaust.
David Schroeder, social studies teacher in charge of the project, said
while the topic is depressing and somber, the students got very
excited about it.
"They put their hearts and souls into the project," Schroeder
said. "In my mind, I knew this had the potential to be great. I had to
just keep telling them this is going to be powerful and it will make a
statement."
The results have indeed been powerful.
Since opening May 15, the museum has attracted dozens of parents and
community members.
Sixth-graders at the Wadsworth school have spent the last week
visiting the genocide museum and detailing their feelings afterward.
"The museum was terrific and horrific," said sixth-grader Ben
Mueller. "I learned a ton of things, and I realized what types of
things are going on that I didn't even know about."
Sixth-grader Cydney Salvador said a family member died in the Armenian
Genocide during World War I, so the museum was very personal for her.
"I am angered by this," she said. "They murdered all of these people,
and for what? I wish I could stop it all from happening."
http://www.dailyherald.com/story /?id=197376&src=3