Meet Alana, OMB's Virginia State Coordinator
Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 3:12PM Guest blog by Leigh Durham:
"We’re always excited to check in with our State Coordinators and hear the ways in which their communities are coming together to join the One Million Bones project. Often, coordinators are lucky to have the love and support of family and friends and also get the chance to reconnect on a new level with people and places they’ve known for years.
Recently, Virginia State Coordinator, Alana Simpson, had a unique opportunity to revisit the past and walk the halls of her former high school, but this time as a special guest! Alana was invited to Western Albemarle High School by Laura Chatterson to present to her crafts students in grades 9-12. It was definitely a long, but rewarding day, with six 40-minute presentations to about 150 students. During these presentations, Alana asked students to define “genocide” in their own terms, screened both the Albuquerque and New Orleans preview installation clips, discussed current conflicts, and asked the students to imagine what many kids their age have been through in those regions. Alana was thrilled with the response she received from the students. She shared with us at One Million Bones that “the day could not have gone better, and quite frankly it exceeded my expectations!” She received 33 student intern applications and over 80 e-mail sign-ups for updates on the project! Several of the students started brainstorming on the spot and plan to start a club, hold bake sales to raise money for supplies and get the rest of the school involved with a bonfire and spring fair.
If you live in the Virginia area, Alana would love to hear from you! She's got a lot of exciting things in the works for the Spring, including a collaborative, ongoing installation at the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond.
All this in Virginia as we inch closer to our big event on the National Mall. Imagine what we're building around the country!
Reader Comments (1)
Hey. Just found you guys for the first time. Love what you are doing. Keep it up! I'm going to post something on one of my blogs about you Life's Most Important and Obscure Quesitons