Jillian Curtis homeschools her sons Joshua 11, and Jarret, 10. Together they embarked on a project to learn about the Holocaust and honor those whose lives were taken. They have been collecting individually made Jewish Stars which represent loved ones lost. Thus far, they have collected upwards of 500 stars. They hope to display these beautiful works in a clear star-shaped box. I was so deeply touched by their story and I wanted to share it with my readers. It was an honor for me to interview Jillian, Joshua, and Jarrett.
Tell me about your Holocaust project. What inspired you to take on this type of project?
We collect homemade stars from people that put their creative talents into it. The stars represent the Jews that lost their innocent lives because of intolerance. I wanted to teach my children that acceptance is important, that we shouldn't prejudge anyone. That History usually repeats itself. I wanted them to have a daily reminder with the memorial we'll be building with all these homemade stars. I also wanted them to know not just the Jews were affected by intolerance, and that their souls shine brightly through the stars we have received.
How did you collect the stars?
We have gotten it all through the snail-mail.
How many have you collected?
500 and counting.
What did you learn from this project?
A lot of people died because of their unwavering faith. Intolerance still happens today. I will always remember the people who sent these stars.
What kind of response have you received?
A very good one. People from all over have heard about this project, not a day goes by that we don't receive something in the mail.
How you got the word out that you were collecting the stars? Did you give people instructions or a template or are the all unique?
We got the word out mostly by my blog and emailing people, then by word of mouth. People created each one on their own.
Was there anything that resulted from this project that has surprised you?
Yes, I sent a email to Rabbi Shmuley from the TLC channel Shalom in the Home and got a response. We are so pleased with this. We are also going to be in our local paper.
Jillian and her children are a shinning example to their community, and their inspirational project will continue to touch lives and remind us all of the importance of freedom and tolerance.
You can read Jillian's blog at
http://blog-me-til-midnight.blogspot.com/
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By: Barbara Bietz,
on 4/15/2008
Blog: Barbara Bietz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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By: K.G. Schneider,
on 10/6/2007
Blog: Free Range Librarian (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Do our paths cross, gentle readers (and writers)?
October 11, 11 a.m. ET: One-hour web presentation from the comfort of my office, “Death to Jargon,” for the Outagamie Waupaca Library System (no, I don’t know how to pronounce that)
October 18, 8:30-12: “Library 2.0,” Williamsburg Public Library, Virginia–this will feature Olde Tyme 2.0, New and Improved 2.0, 2.0 successes, 2.0 failures, 2.0 head-scratchers, and 2.0 “Please don’t make me fly around in Second Life in this teensy miniskirt” examples.
October 26 - November 1: Internet Librarian, Monterey, California. I fly in Friday (wearing sensible slacks and clogs, no teensy miniskirt), stay at a cheap motel friend’s house close to Fry’s electronics store in Palo Alto, wake up, geek out, drive to the Bay Area, visit friends in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Santa Cruz, eat real Asian food, stuff a duffel bag with goodies from Trader Joe’s, then drive to the conference earrrrrrrrly Monday 10/29. I don’t have any responsibilities other than to be All Ears And Eyes (and Keyboard-Tapping Fingers). Where shall I trick-or-treat?
November 4 - 7: defrag, one uber-cool conference that I foolishly agreed to speak at. Sure, I want to be on a conference agenda also featuring Esther Dyson and David Weinberger. “Hi, my name is Two Buck Chuck, and I’m here to talk about agronomy and astronomy… no wait, folksonomy and taxonomy… hey, why are you leaving the room?” My stage fright notwithstanding, if you’re interested in attending defrag but are on the fence about it, drop me a note at kgs at freerangelibrarian dot com and let me persuade you. (Also, I had a thought while out running today–I try to have one thought per day, whether I need to or not–and it was this: for faceting and library data, technology has trumped taxonomy.)
November 8-9: Jim Rettig’s ALA Presidential Implementation Task Force, ALA Headquarters, Chicago. I think we get to suggest how he spends his time and money during his year as ALA prexy.
November 12-15: NISO NCIP Meeting, Atlanta. Whee, I get to travel on the Monday of a three-day weekend! What a terrific way to honor America’s veterans (including me). I promise to drive my tripmate crazy on the drive north by singing “Danger Zone” the whole way up there. The meeting itself should be fascinating (it’s about a standard intended to help attach the hip bone to the thigh bone in library software). Then I swing around and drive home just long enough to drop off the rental car so that I can scoot to the coast that night for…
November 16, all day: PLAN Workshop, “Writing for the Web,” Panama City, Florida. A great way to wrap up several weeks of learning and travel–my favorite new best thing to teach, and the beautiful Florida coast. (A mere stone’s throw from the equally beautiful Destin outlet stores.)
December 19-23: Personal writing retreat (yes, this is a good time to be away–Sandy will be very busy; Christmastime is big business for her). After I was rejected by a famous writing center, I thought, I don’t need a writing center to have a writing retreat. A laptop, a cooler of healthy food, and a motel room on the coast will do me fine. I can then roll back into Tally like Pa coming home in that blizzard in one of the Little House on the Prairie books… look, it’s me, and I’ve brought you an orange and a clothespin doll! (My other thought was to make the writing shed happen during this time; in any event, it’s my own special Writing Advent.)
We also have a personal trip factored in here, to New York City. It’s been several years and I miss it; Sandy has been back once or twice since then, but I haven’t. Our needs are pretty simple: a trip or two to Zabar’s, riding the bus around the city, good ethnic food, a long pass through Century 21, walking down the Upper West Side, prowling all the places we could take for granted when we lived in or near New York.
Then life is pretty quiet until it’s time for ALA Midwinter, in mid-January.
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