Fairfax resident Elayna Tursky has been chosen to participate in the Lipper Internship Program at the Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Lower Manhattan.
Tursky is one of 15 interns this semester who will learn how to teach twentieth century Jewish history and the Holocaust to young people. Since the Lipper program started in 1998, interns have worked with over 50,000 students from around the Northeastern United States.
Tursky is a senior at Temple University where she is studying anthropology. She plans to pursue a career in the museum field. As part of her training, she will study the museum’s exhibitions, hear testimonies from Holocaust survivors, and attend seminars led by Museum scholars. Once they have completed training, "Lippers" share the knowledge they have obtained with their communities’ schools by giving presentations on Jewish heritage and the Holocaust.
After introductory sessions, the interns bring groups of middle and high school students to the museum, where lessons are complemented by tours of the museum’s Core Exhibition. Lippers return to the schools to discuss the material, encouraging students to share reactions and insights.
Chris Klumpp, a teacher at Windsor High School in Windsor, N.Y., praises the program as "a fantastic opportunity."
"The Holocaust is only briefly studied in our high school and this… allowed students to gain a more personal grasp of this horrible event."
This program is made possible through the support of the EGL Charitable Foundation. For more information about the Lipper Internship Program and other opportunities for students, please visit www.mjhnyc.org.