One Million Bones Wrap Up

     Our trip to Washington DC was truly a once in a lifetime experience!  Our students were so excited to see their work installed at the National Mall.  Here's a recap of our experience with the One Million Bones project:
     First, we received the e-mail with a call for handcrafted bones.  I met with the social studies teachers in our school and asked if they would be willing to discuss genocide in Africa in their classes.  In NJ, we are required to have holocaust education in every grade, so this was good way to meet state standards and talk about current issues in the world.  We used the curriculum guide materials provided in our packet from the One Million Bones project.
     We completed about 130 bones using plaster wrap over newspaper and paper towel tube structures.  Students studied anatomy in the process.  We packed and shipped all of the bones to DC.  We periodically looked at the www.studentsrebuild.org website for updates on the project.
     We planned our trip to DC to see our work installed at the National Mall.  I registered our group with the Students Rebuild website to let them know that we were going to see the installation on Monday June 10th.  I was contacted by representatives of the Enough Project, http:\\www.enoughproject.org.  They were organizing advocates for the Act Against Atrocities Advocacy Day. 
     Once we arrived in Washington, we attended a modified version of their activist training.  We reviewed the legislative process and learned about ways we could advocate for atrocities in The Congo and Sudan.  We learned that we could put pressure on phone companies and ask for legislation for "conflict free cell phones" in The Congo and also to ask for a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Sudan. You can find more about these issues at the Enough Project website.  Our staff and students were very impressed with the professionalism and organization of the reps from the Enough Project.  They provided lanyards, resources materials, and schedules for our day.  
     After a quick lunch, we headed to The Dirksen Senate Office Building.  We had an appointment with Jodi Herman, Deputy Staff Director for Senator Robert Menendez.  Senator Menendez is our Senator from NJ, who is also the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  We met in the actual committee hearing room.  The students were allowed to sit in the senators' chairs and play with microphones while we waited.  When Ms. Herman arrived, she explained her duties as Staff Director, the responsibilities of the Foreign Relations Committee and the issues that were currently being handled by the Committee.  She was extremely gracious and down to earth, and the students asked a lot of questions.  We asked for our two key issues (conflict free cell phones and a hearing on Sudan) and also gave her one of the bones from the One Million Bones project.  We took lots of pictures with her afterwards.
     One our way to the bones display, we looked at the sites of DC including the Supreme Court and the Capitol Building.  It unfortunately poured rain during our walk, but we made it to the bones.  We admired the display and had a moment of silence.
     For the final exam in class, students will be writing thank you notes and a reflection on their experience.  I'll share some quotes from students later.  Overall, it was such an awesome experience to see our work displayed at the mall, to collaborate with amazing colleagues, to make the connections to advocate for important issues through art, and to be activists for the day.  Most importantly, students learned that they may be one in a million, but their voices can be heard and they can make a difference in the world.