Recommendations
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Holocaust Museum Houston I would like to express my sincere appreciation to you for allowing the Museum to present such an exceptional exhibition to the Houston community. Viewer response was immediate and emotional. What a perfect exhibition to help fulfill our mission!
In the short two months that Wings of Witness at the Museum, over 3500 students embraced the unique opportunity to participate in the creation of the exhibition they came to view. To top that, during your week-long visit to Houston 800 additional students learned about the lessons of the Holocaust by working directly with you in hands-on workshops. Thank you for making it possible for the Museum to reach out to entirely new groups of visitors. The great scope of Wings of Witness required an amazing team of docents and volunteers, allowing the Museum to develop internship programs for high school and college students. Additionally, for the first time, elementary level students were able to take part in a tour of an age-appropriate exhibition.
While Wings of Witness was on view, the Museum not only witnessed an increase in general visitorship, but also an increase in the impact of its exhibitions on visitors. This is most eloquently reflected in the enclosed visitor comments.
Without the ingenuity and dedication of individuals like you, the Holocaust Museum Houston would not achieve its greatest successes. Our exhibitions play an integral role in reaching our goal to educate the community about the dangers of prejudice, hatred and violence against the backdrop of the Holocaust. Through Wings of Witness and its associated educational hands-on workshops, the Museum brought our community together in new and exciting ways.
May you and your work continue to educate and inspire.
Susan Llanes
Interim Executive Director
Holocaust Museum Houston
On behalf of the Anti-Defamation League's Holocaust Education Committee I would like to thank you for your participation in our in-service workshop for educators, The Holocaust: Its Relevance for the 21st century. Your presentation of Wings of Witness made the workshop more colorful, relevant and exciting for our participants. It provided the educators a powerful pedagogic tool to engage their students in artistic venues for learning about history.
Nothing can better attest to the success of your presentation then the teachers' personal comments. I have just completed the review of our program evaluations and I would like to share some participants' responses with you. An overwhelming majority of educators who completed the evaluations for the workshop rated your presentation as "Excellent" and found it useful for both their personal and students education.
The following are some anonymous comments by educators who completed the evaluations:
"Very interesting concept."
"It was a fabulous experience. I wish my school could participate."
"Great idea for earth science, recycling."
"Exciting and original work."
"Wonderful hands-on experience to put numbers of Holocaust victims in perspective."
"An excellent example of concrete concept versus abstract for children."
"I enjoyed being a part of history. Something I will be able to share with my students, children, and grandchildren."
Thank you again for your wonderful presentation. I look forward to working with you again, as we expand the workshop to other areas in Southern California. Best of luck to you as you bring this amazing project to completion.
Marjan M. Keypour
Assistant Director of the Anti-Defamation League
Los Angeles, California
New York City, JUNE 26, 2011
To Whom it May Concern,The 7th grade English teachers at Lycee Français de New York and their students all eagerly awaited February 12, 2011, for on that day for the thirteenth consecutive year, Mr. Jeffrey Schrier presented his very uplifting WINGS of WITNESS program to our school.
A more educational, enriching and enlightening program will prove difficult to find! Wings of Witness is a tremendous educational tool which enables students, parents and teachers alike to establish and feel a human connection between themselves as 21st century citizens and the men, women and children who perished in the Holocaust. Through Mr. Schrier’s presentation, our 7th graders’ understanding of the forces at play during this pivotal historical period is expanded and deepened. By concretizing the sheer number of lost human lives, Mr. Schrier’s fundamental lesson emerges: tolerance must prevail. Since Mr. Schrier has been coming to our school, our 7th grade study of works such as Anne Frank and Night has become much more real and meaningful to our students.
Thirteen generations of Lycee Français students have had the irreplaceable opportunity to experience this very poignant program and will never forget its powerful message of hope in the human spirit.
Catherine Pointelet Isaac
English Department
Lycee Français de New York
LMU/LA
Loyola Marymount University
Department of EnglishI am a University Professor in Los Angeles who had the good fortune to discover the artist Jeffrey Schrier and his work, "Wings of Witness" in late January. I witnessed the pieces of the Holocaust memorial he is creating out of 11 million soda can tabs, and participated in a workshop he lead during my daughters religious school class. I knew immediately that this project was significant and timely enough to invite Mr. Schrier to my campus. We welcomed Mr. Schrier at Loyola Marymount in order to lead a workshop for our students.... Including all of the students in my "Tolerance in the Arts" course who had been reading about and discussing the Holocaust and Anti-Semitism all semester. For these students, and for the others, the experience - that is, the process of building the memorial together through the workshop - forged a connection to the murdered millions in the most profound way. Jeffrey Schrier offers a brilliant and moving presentation before and during the workshop that includes videos about the project's beginnings, photographs and other artifacts. Student comments during the presentation reflect how moving AND educational the experience was: "Not only does [the workshop] raise awareness about the Holocaust, but it also develops the idea that art reflects life"; and "This project is inspirational and I would encourage everyone to get involved through the workshops ... or stay informed about the project." I will be certain to keep in touch with Jeffrey in order to bring him back to our University, and to recommend his presentation/workshop to other educators at this University and elsewhere.
Dr. Holli Levitsky
Associate Professor of English
Loyola Marymount University
Associate Professor of English
We were very pleased with our decision to invite Jeffery Schrier to conduct his Wings of Witness workshop at Ramaz in commemoration of Kristallnacht. Students found both his remarks and style compelling and were impressed with the imaginativeness and colossal nature of the project. They were quite pleased to be part of a venture, which allowed them to participate with so many other people in doing something concrete to memorialize the victims of the Holocaust. As one seventh grader wrote:
At first I thought that making the Wings of Witness sculpture was just fun, but then I realized that each silly soda can tab stood for a lost and murdered soul that was innocent but was killed because of hate and racism. I am happy to know that so many people are now working together to make a memorial for these lost souls.
We applaud Mr. Schrier's ingenuity and the sincerity with which he communicates with students. We support his efforts and hope that others will as well.
Deedee Benel, Educational Director-Upper School
Judy Sokolow, Educational programming-Junior High School
RAMAZ - The Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein Upper School
New York City, New York
From: Robert E. Bell School
Chappaqua, New YorkJeffrey Schrier's recent presentation was a resounding success. His work "Wings Of Witness" is a tribute to the 11 million people who lost their lives during the Nazi occupation of Europe during World War II.
Mr. Schrier's opening statements captures the pain and suffering of the victims of this time, and in a sense he conjures up those lost spirits and gives them a voice. Our students were engaged throughout this part of the presentation. However, the real power of the presentation lies in the opportunity for our students to create a work of art that commemorates the victims of the pogrom. The concept of phylogenic responsibility runs throughout the activity.
Additionally, our school's themes of "Community, Leadership, and Respect" were both implicitly and explicitly expressed throughout the presentation. I heartily recommend this assembly to any school that is interested
Martin Fitzgerald, Assistant Principal
