A Snowy Day

A blog post by Museum Educator Marisa Shultz! To read more posts from Marisa, click here.

I have loved the snow, ever since I was little; you can just imagine my sheer glee at the past few days. I know that I’m likely in the minority here… even my grandmother, of blessed memory, used to wear a heavy sweatshirt reading “Let it snow somewhere else,” in protest of snowy forecasts. But a decent snowfall (what I not-so-scientifically call “enough to completely hide the grass”), always makes me feel nostalgic.

Four unidentified individuals facing the camera and standing in the snow, all four are wearing heavy coats and goggles.
Photo taken during a trip by Friedenwald family members in 1905 to Switzerland for the VII Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. Dr. Julius Friedenwald is possibly the person second from the left. What I love so much about this photograph are the somewhat comical goggles; I really could have used them on my most recent walk in the snow, for sure! JMM 1984.23.50.

Perhaps it’s because of how intermittent snowfall is in Maryland… some years we’re wading in snow up to our waists, and other years we endure the bitter cold weather to only see rain, slush, and treacherous ice. Perhaps it’s because of how snow can disappear as soon as it arrives, or perhaps it’s because of fond memories of long-ago and now unfortunately defunct ‘snow-days,’ with sledding, warm mittens, and large cups of hot chocolate. Or maybe it is a combination of them all.

Nonetheless, when the snowflakes begin to drift slowly down from that light gray sky, I always find myself pausing in front of the window, and before long, I’m taking stock of where I’ve been, where I am, and where I want to be, though now I’m more likely to have a cup of coffee in hand than hot chocolate.

Two children on a toboggan-like sled with an adult pushing them forward.
Eleanor Levy helps sisters Susan and Ellen enjoy a snowy day, c. 1920-1940. Gift of Janet Fishbein (daughter of Susan Levy Bodenheimer), Ellen Patz, Ruth Gottesman & Vera Mendelsohn Mitnick, Lester Levy Family Papers, JMM 2004.13.4

As the snow started to fall a few days ago, I started thinking about the past year, of quarantine, of the overdue (and unfinished) national reckoning around race and equity, of heightened Antisemitism, and I wondered where I was a year ago. Somewhat ironically and despite all of the changes in my life and around the world, I was doing then what I am doing now: getting ready for our Winter Teachers Institute on the best practices of Holocaust Education.

I consider preparing for our Teachers Institutes one of the most important parts of my job, and even though everything looks different this year, we are all working hard to put on a meaningful and impactful virtual Winter Teachers Institute: 2021. There is still time to register and join this year’s cohort studying the topic of Children and the Holocaust on February 21st and February 28th over Zoom.

Over the course of the two days, we’ll be hearing from survivors and experts in the field of Holocaust Education from organizations including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Centropa, and the Center for Jewish Education. Participating educators have the opportunity to earn either one Baltimore City Achievement Unit (AU) or one Maryland State Department of Education Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credit.

As part of the Winter Teachers Institute, attendees are invited to our public program Connecting Stories of Survival!

I hope that if you are a teacher or an educational professional that you will consider joining us in exploring new resources for the classroom, growing our pedagogical skills, and building a community of teachers this winter!

More information and registration link here.

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