Why I Was So Moved By Ripley, Ohio
Ripley, Ohio is a place that deeply resonated for me. My Fund For Teachers fellowship led me to this small town with a big Underground Railroad history. Here are three reasons I cannot get Ripley off my mind. 1. The Riveting Story of John P. Parker Ripley resident John P. Parker was a man of African…
The Ohio River Cruise’s Unexpected Twist
I’m a person who loves water: lakes, ponds, and especially rivers. There is something mesmerizing, archetypal, and life-giving to me about bodies of water. The value of water is especially heightened to me as a resident of Los Angeles during California’s terrible drought. So, while in Cincinnati for my Fund For Teachers fellowship, I could…
Underground Railroad, Slavery and The Erasure of Memory
The Jewish cemetery in Sniadowo hardly exists anymore. The Nazis desecrated the headstones in this tiny Polish town and then used them as paving materials for roads. Then, the Soviets dug up what remained of the cemetery and used it as a gravel pit. Today, the area is a pleasant meadow with flowers and wild…
Educational Road Trip – First Stop: Cincinnati
Cincinnati is the first stop on my “educational road trip” to learn about the Underground Railroad (read earlier post here). Today we spent our second day the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati. This is an incredible museum dedicated to shedding light on the history of slavery, the Underground Railroad, and the proliferation of…
My Fund For Teachers Fellowship
Three years ago I was in Poland, hugging an older women I didn’t know and could hardly understand, moments after she told me the story of her father harboring Jews during the Nazi occupation. We both began to cry as she shared the heartbreak of his being discovered and abandoning his charges in the woods. …
Inquiry Based Learning Made Easy
As the period ended yesterday, a student said to me, “Ms. Minkin, we should always play games like this.” I was glad she had fun. But we hadn’t been playing a game. What my student was referring to was the inquiry based lesson she had just experienced. Notice I didn’t say “the lesson I had…
