Nicole Moore is not your average high school English teacher, she is constantly seeking ways to bring the global community into her classroom; and her classroom to the global community. Nicole traveled to what is now South Sudan in 2010, to help create primary and secondary education curriculum for teachers in Marial Bai along with other volunteer teachers. This trip made Nicole reflect on the fact that not all Americans will get the opportunity to travel in conflict areas and what can she do, as an educator, to share these experiences?

Nicole was part of the last Carl Wilkens Fellowship class in 2011, a fellowship offered by the former Genocide Intervention Network, named in honor of Carl Wilkens, the only American to remain in Rwanda during the genocide. During that following summer she traveled with Carl Wilkens and a group for teachers to Rwanda to learn more about their past. One of the interviews she conducted was with Adele, (no, not the singer), who survived a massacre at a local church and the forgiveness she offered to the man who killed her husband, the man who murdered her son; who also tried to kill her, Louis. She accepted Louis into her home to care for him, facing scrutiny from her neighbors often saying she was a “crazy person”. To this day, Louis often visits her with his wife and children. To view the full interview, which you know you want to, click here.

I asked Nicole about her experiences of doing the One Million Bones project as an educator and this is what she said:

“The work of One Million Bones and Students Rebuild is incredibly important, and fits so well into the work my students engage in and the mission of the school I work at. So often, while students study events such as the Holocaust or the Armenian genocide, they ask if genocides have happened since, and many teachers are not equipped with the time or knowledge to fully answer that question. The One Million Bones Project gives students this information, as well as the critical aspect of an action item, with which to grapple with the concepts of contemporary genocide and US foreign policy. Abstract concepts are given tangible shape through this project, and students have a concrete experience to anchor their understanding of large and potentially scary events. I'm grateful for my relationship with OMB and SR because their work directly expands my work as a teacher, and thus directly impacts the lives of students.”

This is Nicole’s second year at Notre Dame High School in San Jose, California and the second year making bones with her students. I asked her how her school has reacted to the implementation of the project there and beamed about how supportive they’ve been. The entire school, not just Nicole’s students have taken the project on, creating a model that she has been able to offer other educators, many of who have successfully implemented! Nicole is worked closely with the Museum of the Africa Diaspora for a community wide event that was held yesterday, February 23, 2013, below are some pictures:

 

If you’re in the bay area and have an interest in making bones with Nicole, email her!