baby, you're amazing
I just saw the most incredible documentary.
Whitwell is small, homogeneous, extraordinary town in Tennessee. In 1998, the principal of Whitwell Middle School wanted to find a way to teach her students about tolerance and respect for different cultures. She sent one of her eighth grade teachers to a conference in Chattanooga and he came back with the idea for an after-school course on the Holocaust. There are no Jews in Whitwell, but it seemed the perfect vehicle for teaching students about respecting and appreciating diversity.
The students taking the course couldn't get a grasp on how much six million is. After doing some research on the internet, the students learned that in Norway, citizens wore paper clips on their lapels as a sign of solidarity against the Nazis. The students decided to try to collect six million paper clips for the six million Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis.
Several years ago, I received an email at work about the paper clip project. I collected paper clips from people around the office and sent them on their way. I didn't think about it again.
Paper Clips is the film I saw today. It tells the story of the teachers, students, and community involved in this incredible, ongoing project, and the impact the project has had around the world.
Today, the school has amassed over thirty million paper clips and has an incredible memorial (how they made it is yet another moving part of the story told in the film) to all who perished in the Holocaust, including Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies and others.
Their website is here: http://www.marionschools.org/holocaust/index.htm
Miramax is distributing the movie. Look for it at local Jewish film festivals, and hopefully art house theatres nationwide. It's well worth the eighty-minute investment. Just be sure to bring tissues. Even my most stoic spouse teared up.
Whitwell is small, homogeneous, extraordinary town in Tennessee. In 1998, the principal of Whitwell Middle School wanted to find a way to teach her students about tolerance and respect for different cultures. She sent one of her eighth grade teachers to a conference in Chattanooga and he came back with the idea for an after-school course on the Holocaust. There are no Jews in Whitwell, but it seemed the perfect vehicle for teaching students about respecting and appreciating diversity.
The students taking the course couldn't get a grasp on how much six million is. After doing some research on the internet, the students learned that in Norway, citizens wore paper clips on their lapels as a sign of solidarity against the Nazis. The students decided to try to collect six million paper clips for the six million Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis.
Several years ago, I received an email at work about the paper clip project. I collected paper clips from people around the office and sent them on their way. I didn't think about it again.
Paper Clips is the film I saw today. It tells the story of the teachers, students, and community involved in this incredible, ongoing project, and the impact the project has had around the world.
Today, the school has amassed over thirty million paper clips and has an incredible memorial (how they made it is yet another moving part of the story told in the film) to all who perished in the Holocaust, including Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies and others.
Their website is here: http://www.marionschools.org/holocaust/index.htm
Miramax is distributing the movie. Look for it at local Jewish film festivals, and hopefully art house theatres nationwide. It's well worth the eighty-minute investment. Just be sure to bring tissues. Even my most stoic spouse teared up.