THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, November 2, 1984 101 JUST ASKING... Local programs on prejudice are available to school groups affects us. It brought things out into the open." Zack adds, "We'd love to see all school districts, public, private and parochial, implement mate- rials that would sensitize stu- dents to prejudice and help them understand how easy it is for things to get out of hand." The ADL School Committee can be reached by calling the ADL De- troit office, 962-9686, and asking for Nancy Frumkin. one Did you know that your area newspa- per reaches more people than any O other advertising way T m. i B te s c t a h u e sb ee o sf t fu am that i Get vehicle to get your ts' message across... ul •and get results! Call _ us right now! s ure Dolls for Democracy "Doll lady" Judy Poger holds Mahatma Ghandi and Benjamin Franklin. BY ELLYCE FIELD Special to The Jewish News I'm a high school social studies teacher. We will soon begin a unit on prejudice. Are there any mate- rials available through the Jewish community? Three organizations offer a variety of services to promote understanding and sensitivity be- tween ethnic, racial and religious groups. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), B'nai B'rith Women's Dolls for Democracy and the Holocaust Memorial Center offer a wealth of programs, audio-visual and print materials, speakers and educational consul- tants. According to Nancy Frumkin, assistant director of ADL's De- troit office, ADL is the country's largest producer of human rela- tions materials. A free, 70-page catalogue produced through ADL's national office, is a teacher's dream. Films, filmstrips, video-cassettes and re- cords, as well as a variety of printed materials are available for a minimal rental or purchase price. The materials are organized under general topics, including prejudice, ethnic and minority studies, politics-left, right and middle, the Holocaust, anti- Semitism, and Jewish-Christian relations. The catalogue has materials suitable for school children of all ages. While more is available for junior and senior high school grades, many materials are geared toward or are adaptable for primary grades. Frumkin ex- plains that the major therrie run- ning through most kindergarten through sixth grade materials is, "You and I are different, but it doesn't make me better." The Michigan ADL has an active Schools Committee whose purpose is to act as consultant and liaison between ADL resources and public and private schools. The committee reviews ADL catalogue materials, advises teachers and administrators, pro- duces local progams and develops curriculum guides to deal with local problems and traditions. Barbara Weinstein and Stephanie Zack, ADL schools Committee co-chairmen, em- phasize ADL's easy accessibility and willingness to share, rent or sell catalogue materials. Both women have previewed much of the catalogue's materials and can recommend specific films or books, implement an ADL course curriculum, or lead a workshop for teachers or students. They can also suggest an appropriate speaker from the local ADL Speakers Bureau. Materials and programs on prejudice are provided by the Anti-Defamation League, B'nai B'rith Women and the Holocaust Memorial Center. In the past, the ADL Schools Committee has stepped in with materials to ease potentially tense situations in Detroit area schools. Stephanie noted two situations at separate schools when information via films and books were needed to work out difficulties Chaldean and Russian Jewish children were encounter- ing with fellow students. Last year, the committee led a workshop for Temple Israel's seventh and eighth grades. Breaking into groups of ten, an ADL member led a discussion of situations the students had wit- nessed involving prejudice. They also viewed several ADL video cassettes. The workshop ended with student-created slogans and skits which showed their new sen- sitivity toward prejudice. Weinstein explains the work- shop's benefit, "Our program gave the students insights they might not have had as to how prejudice Dolls for Democracy is a unique program that promotes brother- hood and the ideals of democracy through dolls and stories. The program began 30 years ago under the auspices of the ADL. For the last 25 years it has been one of B'nai B'rith Women's national programs. Judy Poger and Lorraine Cooper chair the Detroit area pro- gram. They and their committee are known to area school children as Doll Ladies. Thirty-three dolls make up the Detroit collection. Each hand- made doll is a miniature replica of a famous humanitarian repre- senting a variety of races, reli- gions, ethnic groups and social classes. The nine-inch dolls have painted plaster faces and are dressed in detailed, handmade clothing. They were selected from a variety of fields: science, social science, arts and literature, sports, ministry, teaching and politics. Included are Martin Luther King, Father Flanagan, Jim Thorpe, Jane Addams, Anne Frank, Jackie Robinson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, Flor- ence Nightengale and Mahatma Gandhi. A Doll Lady will choose five or six dolls for a 45-minute presenta- tion. Additional time is spent at the end to answer questions. Most presentations are conducted in individual elementary school classes so that the Doll Lady can build a strong rapport with a limited number of students. Poger explains her role as_a "story teller, trying to draw chil- dren into the lives, to help them experience what each person went through." Both Poger and Cooper have found that children become emo- tionally involved in the doll stories. "Whenever I tell the story of Anne Frank," Poger says, "there are tears in the audience. 4 The injustices Jackie Robinson faced bring the honest emotion of anger from the children." Cooper feels the program "in- spires children with the knowl- edge that greatness is not the characteristic of any one group. We encourage them to believe they can be anything they want to be." Last year, in addition to many public and private school pre- sentations, Poger took the dolls to the Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak for 13 presentations, before a total of 300 children. She emphasizes the programs's im- Continued on next page Res The Jewish News 424-8833 these are only a few of the features you'll find weekly in The Jewish News order a subscription or gift subscription today! 1 1 The Jewish News 17515 W. 9 Mile Rd., Suite 865 I Southfield, Mich. 48075-4491 Gentlemen: I Please send a (gift) subscription to: NAME I ADDRESS I CITY STATE ZIP From: I If gift state occasion [11 $18 enclosed 1•1•11111111M 1•11 NM OM IN MO MO 1M • • an MI a