Learn and Serve

Chester Community Charter School sixth grade students, under the direction of classroom teacher Miss Christina Mignogna, participated in a Holocaust-research service learning project, January through May 2010, entitled Voices of the Holocaust: Then and Now.
 

The program was designed to increase students’ cross-cultural literacy through research activities on the history of children and rescuers of the Holocaust. Research was conducted through a day-trip to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC; literature circles of 3 or 4 students discussing non-fiction and historical fiction texts relating to the Holocaust; and internet searches on children and rescuers of the Holocaust. The program goals are to educate students on cultural diversity and heighten their awareness of potential consequences of hatred.
 

In spring 2011, the project has been expanded and now includes four of the five 6th grade classes on West Campus under the leadership of Ms. Mignogna, Ms. Atkins, Ms. Bajgier, and Ms. Zibelman. Students involved in the program are researching the history of the Holocaust; and designing service projects through which they can share what they are learning with members of their communities. Some of the 2010-2011 activities include:

…visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC

…creating a Rescuer Plaque in honor of a rescuer the students researched from the Holocaust

…creating a poetry book, Memory Tile, and Powerpoint/Prezi presentation about their research on children of the Holocaust

…presenting their work to the community through collaboration with the J. Lewis Crozer Library

…collaborating with the Philadelphia Holocaust Awareness Museum, including hearing from a Survivor of the Holocaust and seeing a play on Anne Frank

…collaborating with Cabrini College to identify the connection of the Holocaust to present-day genocide. Students will be creating duffle bags that will be sent to students in Africa suffering from the genocide of HIV/AIDS.

Books being used for the projects include:
• Number the Stars
• The Diary of Anne Frank
• Boy in the Striped Pajamas
• Daniel’s Story
• I Never Saw Another Butterfly; Children’s Drawings and Poems
• Survivors
• Tell Them We Remember; the Story of the Holocaust
• The Paper Clip Project (film)
• The Yellow Star; the Legend of King Christian X of Denmark
• One Candle
• Terrible Things
• The Butterfly
 

The project outcomes include improvement in students’ language arts skills (reading comprehension, research, and poetry writing and understanding); and an appreciation of lessons from history in relation to their own lives, including the need for appreciation of others from diverse backgrounds.
 

PowerPoint/Prezi-based presentations on students’ research and experience in the program will be available on the school’s website.
 

If you would like further information or would like to see how to participate in some of these activities, please contact Ashleigh Brown, Grant Program Coordinator, at asbrown@chestercommunitycharter.org.