Recently we completed a video for The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida. The Holocaust Center has focused their energy on developing a program called UpStanders: Stand Up To Bullying. Their website states that the program “uses the history and lessons of the Holocaust, in particular the stories of Rescuers or Righteous Gentiles, to inspire students to become UpStanders rather than bystanders. The goal is to make the community one in which diversity is celebrated and everyone feels respected and safe. Rescuer behavior during the Holocaust is used to teach students the importance of guarding the rights and safety of others. It is a five part initiative that is presented to middle school students over a two school year period.”
MicheLee Puppets created a live performance show called, “The Ultimate Consequence,” which addresses the issues of bullying and teen suicide through shadow puppetry, an ancient art form brought into the 21st century with overhead projectors, graphic images, and a dramatic soundtrack. The production runs for fifteen minutes and is performed by Holocaust Center volunteers that have been trained by staff members- but the need for volunteers to satisfy the five part initiative has increased, making a DVD presentation of the performance a much more manageable form of delivery.
Here at IDEAS we were able to use our insert stage to project the shadow puppet show onto a screen and record the production in it’s entirety. Now the show can be delivered to schools via file or DVD and reach a larger amount of students. In addition to creative and post production support we provided for a previous project, we support the Holocaust Center and the UpStanders program. For more information on The Holocaust Center visit http://www.holocaustedu.org/ and for more information on the UpStanders: Stand Up To Bullying program visit http://www.holocaustedu.org/education/upstanders/
