Memorial Service-Learning Project
“May the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial stand as a tribute to Anne Frank’s memory, as a warning to any who would dare trespass upon the freedoms of others, and as an inspiration to all whose lives are devoted to love, respect, understanding, peace, and good will among the totality and diversity of the human family. May this memorial inspire each of us to contemplate the moral implications of our civic responsibilities.”
– Rev. Dr. Nancy Taylor
The Memorial receives an average of 120,000 visitors annually, with over 10,000 K-12 and university undergraduate students participating in free docent-led tours.
Our Memorial Service-Learning Project consists of a 12-14 hour volunteering commitment in which students become young ambassadors for Holocaust education and remembrance by organizing a school, class or club tour of the Memorial. Students will learn about the Holocaust and the importance of becoming upstanders, while gaining organization and communication skills. Center staff will guide students through the following steps:
- Meeting with Center volunteers and touring the Memorial. Center volunteers will offer a tour of the Memorial for the student and his/her family. Then, the student and his/her family will work with Center staff to begin planning the school, class or club visit.
- Coordinating a school, class or club tour of the Memorial. With the help of Center staff, the student will organize a tour of the Memorial for his/her school, class, or school club. Center staff will help to coordinate transportation and trip details at every step of the way and will provide materials describing how to talk about the Memorial with teachers and administrators, as well as other students.
- Hosting and documenting the Memorial tour. Together with the student, Center volunteers will co-lead a tour of the Memorial for the student group. The student will be responsible for taking pictures and/or video to document his/her experience.
- Presenting on his/her Memorial service project. As part of his/her project, the student will describe his/her experience with the Center and in the Memorial to others in the school community.
- Working with his/her family to raise funds for the Memorial. Students participating in the service-learning project are encouraged to raise funds for the upkeep and programming of the Memorial. There is no minimum or maximum amount of funds raised, but we suggest setting goals in increments of $25, or offering a “family match” in which a family member matches the amount raised by the student.
Please get in touch with Jane Williamson, Volunteer Coordinator, to discuss your Memorial Service Project at (208) 345-0304 or at outreach@wassmuthcenter.org
Ryan Coonerty, in the National Geographic publication Etched in Stone: Enduring Words from our Nation’s Monuments, commented,
“Anne Frank could scarcely have conceived of Boise, Idaho. Therefore, it seems improbable that the author of a diary that has become among the world’s most widely read books has become a symbolic fixture of this community almost 60 years after her death.”
– Ryan Coonerty