Our Impact

Testimonial from Milly Garcia

Our students' response to the exhibit was very positive.  Before the sixth graders went, I spent a social studies class preteaching the background about each of the five religions represented, using the information provided in your study guide, which was incredibly helpful.  We had already learned some fundamentals about Judaism and Islam in social studies and religion classes, so we had a context for the items representing those faiths, but my kids were surprised to learn that Omaha has Buddhist and Hindu communities, and knew nothing about these beliefs prior to this.  Our newly revamped mission statement at St. Cecilia's includes a statement about teaching reverence and respect for all faiths and cultures, so the exhibit fit very well into our school's mission, which we have been reminding the kids about since the start of the year.  Learning the background and touring the exhibit have definitely increased their awareness and understanding of religious diversity, while at the same time letting them see and appreciate how similar many of our beliefs are (especially among Christianity, Judaism, and Islam--the Abrahamic faiths).  The study guide really kept them focused as they viewed the items; it was very well prepared, and searching for answers to the questions made it an active learning experience.
 
They really appreciated the beauty of the objects displayed, and were very impressed with how old some of them were.  They recognized the Torah cover, prayer shawl, and mezuzah, because we have learned about those things and they remembered seeing two of our students wearing prayer shawls in the photo I have from their bar mitzvah.  They recognized the Greek Orthodox icons, and recognized them as coming from the Greek Orthodox faith practiced by two younger students who attend our school.  They were impressed especially by the hand-lettered page from the Quran and the Psalter from 13th c. Spain.  They also noticed that the corpus of Christ on the crucifix from Tanzania reflected the culture in which it was created--that each culture depicts Christ in their own image.  It was a very culture-broadening experience for them, and fit right into our curriculum in religion, social studies, and art as well as supporting our school mission.  Comment from a 7th-grader (7th and 8th graders also toured the exhibit):  "I thought this exhibit was very cool.  It was full of things that were both interesting and informative.  I think I learned a lot about the Jewish faith and other faiths and had fun exploring all of the museum's pieces." (Jamie Jacobsen, grade 7)
 
My reaction as an educator to this exhibit, as it is to everything Project Interfaith does, is that it was incredibly well conceived and well prepared; it was extremely educational, and the study guide makes it possible for even a teacher with little knowledge or background in this area to teach his/her students a great deal and make the experience a valuable one.  I applaud Project Interfaith for continuing to make such opportunities available to educators in Omaha at no cost.  You truly do God's work in bringing people of all beliefs together in appreciation and understanding of one another.  Hopefully we can all continue to make the world a better and more peaceful place through education such as this!  Thank you,
 
Milly Garcia
St. Cecilia's Elementary
October 31, 2008

Click here to read more testimonials about Project Interfaith's work in the community.