Six million paper clips project. Children’s Holocaust Memorial: Six Million Paper Clips 2022-10-15

Six million paper clips project Rating: 9,7/10 482 reviews

The "Six Million Paper Clips" project was a unique and powerful educational initiative that was launched in the early 2000s by the students and faculty of the Whitwell Middle School in Whitwell, Tennessee. The project was inspired by the Holocaust, and it sought to honor the victims of the Holocaust by collecting six million paper clips, symbolizing the six million Jews who were killed during this tragic period in history.

The idea for the project began in 1998 when the principal of Whitwell Middle School, Linda Hooper, asked teacher David Smith to come up with a way to teach her students about diversity and tolerance. Smith and his students decided to focus on the Holocaust, and they began studying the events of the Holocaust in depth. As they learned more about the devastating impact of the Holocaust, they were inspired to take action and do something to honor the victims.

The students and faculty of Whitwell Middle School began collecting paper clips as a way to symbolize the victims of the Holocaust. They believed that each paper clip represented a person, and they were determined to collect six million paper clips to honor the six million Jews who were killed during the Holocaust. The project quickly gained national attention, and people from all over the world began sending paper clips to Whitwell Middle School to contribute to the project.

Over the course of several years, the students and faculty of Whitwell Middle School were able to collect more than six million paper clips. The project became a powerful educational tool, helping students to understand the importance of diversity and tolerance, and the devastating impact of hate and intolerance.

In addition to collecting paper clips, the students and faculty of Whitwell Middle School also worked to raise awareness about the Holocaust and the importance of remembering its victims. They created a Holocaust museum at the school, and invited Holocaust survivors to speak to their students about their experiences. The project also inspired a documentary film, "Paper Clips," which told the story of the project and its impact on the students and faculty of Whitwell Middle School.

The "Six Million Paper Clips" project was a truly inspiring and transformative educational initiative. It not only helped students to learn about the Holocaust and the importance of diversity and tolerance, but it also inspired people all over the world to take action and make a difference. It is a testament to the power of education to inspire and change lives, and it will be remembered for generations to come as an example of the positive impact that education can have on the world.

Six Million Paper Clips: The Making Of A Children's Holocaust Memorial by Peter W. Schroeder

six million paper clips project

Whitwell is an extremely homogenous town. The students organized a system to deal with the deluge of mail. Kids, staff, parents, grandparents and townspeople counted paper clips day after day. I read this book and instantly loved it. Sandra herself didn't know much about the Holocaust. It is uplifting and healing.

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Children's Holocaust Memorial and Paper Clip Project, Whitwell

six million paper clips project

When she eventually informed the students that the Nazis had murdered six million Jews, the students were very quiet and then began to ask questions about how many is six million. Sandra Roberts recalled the visit the students had made to the Holocaust Museum in Washington. Hooper will speak about the Paper Clips Project in a public lecture at Temple Avodat Shalom, 385 Howland Avenue in River Edge. Read an Excerpt Six Million Paper Clips The Making of a Children's Holocaust Memorial By Peter W. Help for the project was already on the way.

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What does six million look like?

six million paper clips project

One day the children were learning just how many people were exterminated in the Holocaust. Many citizens of Whitwell quietly dug up flowers and bushes from their own yards and planted them around the railcar; within a week the memorial was surrounded by a blooming garden. They chose the clips because some Norwegians wore them as a silent protest against Nazi occupation during World War II. They wrote letters to film stars, politicians, sports heroes and industry leaders asking for help. Begun as an after-school project by a handful of students, it blossomed into an international communication among students from many countries, Holocaust survivors, and government officials, culminating in the arrival of an authentic transport train, which has become a children's memorial. Meanwhile, in Tennessee, there was much activity. In the end, the punishment, over and over again, was death.


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The GypsyNesters

six million paper clips project

Hooper will inspire us to think and to act differently. At first the students brought paper clips from home or asked family and friends to contribute, then the idea began to spread. That railcar filled with paper clips still sits at the middle school, just beside the elementary and high school, so students continue to see it and remember what happened. David Smith and Sandra Roberts started a Holocaust education program and held the first class in the fall of 1998. Planning a Memorial — Finding a Railcar Before long they passed the five million mark and the goal of six 6 million paper clips was in sight.

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One Clip at a Time

six million paper clips project

Thanks for the encouragement. In November the students began filling the memorial, one wheelbarrow-full at a time. The museum had one railcar, built in 1917, Number 011-993, just like the ones in hundreds of pictures from the Nazi Era. He hated Jews and blamed them for all the ills of the German society. Not only was the story true, but a Norwegian man, Johan Vaaler, had invented the paper clip in 1899.

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Children’s Holocaust Memorial: Six Million Paper Clips

six million paper clips project

Survivors wrote and told their stories. The students greeted them excitedly. And enclose a letter telling the students why you are participating. Eventually the letters filled nine notebook binders. Buttons and pennies were suggested.


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Paper Clips Project

six million paper clips project

We have more than five million paper clips! Everyone is Caucasian and belongs to some Protestant denomination; there are no Catholics or ethnic minorities in Whitwell. The rest of the evening was spent thinking about designs for the memorial. They set up a web page asking for help, and for people to share their thoughts and feelings about the Holocaust. In 2006, researching for my last literature paper at Oxford, I stumbled onto the late 17th-century court of Queen Mary of Modena, consort to James II. I tell all the 8th graders to read this after they have done their Diary of Anne Frank section in reading. The oldest writer was ninety-eight. For instance, in Colorado one community started a tutoring program for students who did not have access to the best education.


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Six Million Paperclips

six million paper clips project

The middle school is located on Main Street across from a small clapboard-style church. CHAPTER 4 Planning the memorial And people did! As simple as that, the students began collecting paper clips from their homes. There was no question who should teach the class. ISBN: 978-1-4976-4337-6 CHAPTER 1 Teaching diversity Whitwell, Tennessee, is a small town nestled in the Sequatchie Valley, over the mountains from Chattanooga. Of course every media story urged those who wanted to help to send the students at Whitwell more paper clips.

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Six Million Paper Clips: The Making of a Children's Holocaust Memorial by Peter W. Schroeder, Dagmar Schroeder

six million paper clips project

But nobody in Whitwell knew it. But she had been teaching long enough to know that a teacher often can learn from a student. They wrote articles for nine German newspapers that included a simple request. An extremely rare, original railroad cattle car that transported victims to the camps was procured from Germany and set up in Whitewell. Hooper, who retired from Whitwell Middle School in 2010.

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