Bialik College to run the In My Pocket Project
The Perth-based WE ARE HERE! Foundation has visited Melbourne’s Bialik College presenting the In My Pocket Project to Amanda Castelan-Starr, Karen Friede and Tanya Zohar.
Jill Rabinowitz with Tanya, Karen and Amanda of Bialik College
Amanda is the Assistant Principal & Director of Jewish Life, Karen is Head of Primary and Tanya is a Year 5 teacher.
Bialik College is to incorporate the In My Pocket book and Project into its Grade 5 unit on migration and refugees.
The project is unique in that it transforms a simple autobiographical book into an engaging learning experience, giving an age-appropriate stepping stone into later studies of the Holocaust.
The In My Pocket Project provides students with an understanding of the story of the Kindertransport and of the plight of refugees, particularly children, today. Each participating student receives a free copy of the mini-book, and in the art component of the project, designs and paints their own “pockets”.
The students thoroughly enjoy the story and pose some challenging questions that encourage critical thinking about the text and illustrations in the book. The session helps them develop empathy for individuals displaced from their homes by war, discrimination and other causes.
The WE ARE HERE! Foundation was started and is run by Eli and Jill Rabinowitz, and promotes the story of Dorrith Sim, who was seven years old when forced to flee from the dangers of 1930s Germany.
