#BeginsWithMe

I just had dinner with an amazing group of people and want to start today's blog with the hashtag "#BeginsWithMe".  A premise that I have been addressing a lot with my seventh graders matches this campaign which the USC Shoah Foundation is launching.  This belief is that each of us can make small actions that will make even bigger changes in the world.  I know many people who SAY this but then pause, pondering what kind of a difference they will make.  (Remember, I am the girl who didn't turn my Girl Scout pin around until my leader insisted I do so!)  This campaign, however, is meant to set people in action.

Olga is an energetic journalist from Germany.  I felt connected to her the minute I met her; she is warm and bubbly and knows how much fun it is to play with words.   She also took a risk.  After reading Paula Lebovics' iWitness testimony, Olga reached out to the Shoah Foundation and wanted to connect with this gentle Holocaust survivor.  Even though the director of media was new and didn't know that Paula lived just a few miles away, Olga persisted.  She wrote a letter.  The letter made it into Paula's hands.  The two began to communicate, and they formed a deep friendship.

Paula was a child when the war began.  She was still a child when she was liberated from Auschwitz. There was a period of ten days or so when the Germans had left and only a few kids were left at the concentration camp.  They broke into the storehouses and insulated themselves with bread, bread and more bread.  They dressed up in clothes from the storehouses and in one of her interviews, Paula spoke about her excitement about finding two boots to wear.  

Paula's native language was Yiddish.  Later, she learned Polish so that she could communicate with other children who were in the refugee camp with her.  Nowadays, her main language is English but she has a reading group with whom she discusses Yiddish literature.  I enjoyed chatting with her about the "Mameloshn"  (a Yiddish word for mother tongue).  

When Olga reached out to Paula, her daughter was the age Paula was during parts of the Holocaust.  Their friendship began because Olga thought like a mother and wanted to make sure Paula knew that HER daughter would grow up with love and respect.  In the end, though, Olga found an extra grandmother (or "Schlumpf" -- which means Smurf and is her affectionate name for this strong survivor.)  Their friendship transcends time and wars and nationalities.  

Olga just told me that she really wanted to learn Yiddish.  When I'm done with my emails tonight, I'm going to email her some guidelines for learning the alef-beys.   I'm excited to be a part of this #beginswithme.

Many years ago, my mother encouraged me to reach out to someone like Olga did.  We had gone to see a musical on Broadway called "Imaginary Friends."  I was drawn to see the play because of a song that had been airing frequently on the radio:  "Smart Women."  This song dealt hilariously with the intricacy of friendships between smart women.  At that point in my life, I was struggling with having too much fire in my friendships, and the song gave me some much-needed perspective.  Unfortunately, when I went to see this well-scripted "play with music", the song I longed for was cut. Mom urged me to write to the composer.  

It took a bit of urging, but I did. And the composer was no other than Marvin Hamlisch.  He's the man who wrote A Chorus Line.  He composed "The Way We Were" and the theme from "Ice Castles."  He's bigger than Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Beyonce and Rihanna-- anyone in today's generation.  Sorry, guys.  He's a big guy in musical theater and film.  

I was shocked when he wrote back--in handwriting, no less.  (Learn cursive. You'll never know when you might need it.  Though, to tell the truth, he used print.)  And thus begun our friendship.

I wasn't as brave as Olga, though.  When he asked to meet me, I chickened out.  He sent me a birthday present a few years ago and a month later he was dead.  I'm glad I reached out to him, but I'm still regretful that I never met him in person, especially since I had the opportunity.

#BeginsWithMe is happening in our school now.  Izzy started this amazing Flurry of Friendship project.  I hope that there will be more snowflakes on the board when I get back next week.  If you are home on a snow day, think about making your own snowflake letters to someone who has impacted you.  And just recently, a sixth grader named Mateo came up with an amazing inspirational quote project which we will be launching in February.  My Project Outreach DI team is planning something to help students improve their grades.  I feel so lucky to be around such amazing people.  If you are on Instagram or Twitter, consider sharing the good things you do to inspire the world by using the handle #BeginsWithMe.   

On this trip, there are also a group of Junior Interns.  These are 13-15 year olds who are helping to make sure the iWitness projects are attractive to students. They are also putting together a Web Activity for Auschwitz PastisPresent that will come out this April.  In any case,  many of them are from Pasadena, California, not far from where the Shoah Foundation is located.  One of them, though, is from Philadelphia.  Her name is Ruth Hernandez and you can read about her here.  Last year, she played with digital storytelling for the first time and she created a video about how she is making a difference in the world.  Her focus was deportation of her classmates and she compared it with the deportation of Jewish people in WW2.  As a result of her efforts, along with many other people, the police of Philadelphia separated themselves from the immigration  officers.  Whether you agree with her cause or not, she thought about what she believed in and made some move to try to make a difference.  Her winning video is available at this website.   

What makes me smile is her humility.  Many of you are anxious to take a stand because you don't want to make waves or you're not sure what you believe in.  Some of you (some of us!) fear failure, and others fear success.  Some of you worry that you'll be committed and stuck once you make a choice to stick your neck out.  Some of you worry about ridicule.  Many of you are just comfortable with your current routine.  My friend Danny (hi Danny! How is lunch?)  would say that he's just lazy (but in his laze, he makes robots and creates computers....)  and some Saturdays I know that I am simply lazy.  You are just as capable as this gentle Ruth who immigrated here from El Salvador.  You are kind and wise and more powerful than you know.

#Beginswithme.   What if you were to just go out and take the first step toward something you believe in?  Or... if you are already beginning to make waves in this sea of kindness, what if you were to toot your proverbial horn a little bit and share what you are doing.  Use your networks to forge an energy of excitement and kindness and growth.

This iWitness project is about letting people tell their stories so that history can have a human face.  I have heard so many stories today.  I want to process them before I share more.  But they make me think a lot about stereotyping and the power of one individual.  

(I also am not sharing because I have some awesome lesson ideas that I think you'll find very meaningful, and I'd rather you experience them than have me tell you about them.... Okay?)