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''Life in a Jar'' is a project that began in the fall of 1999. Four rural Kansas students discovered the story of a Polish Catholic woman who saved Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust.〔(Irena Sendler: An Unsung Heroine )〕 While researching for a National History Day project, the students read about Irena Sendler’s story in a 1994 issue of ''U.S. News & World Report''. Sendler’s story was largely unknown to the world until the students developed The Irena Sendler Project, producing their performance ''Life in a Jar''.〔(The Smuggler: NY Times )〕 This student-produced drama has now been performed over 285 times all across the United States, in Canada and in Poland. Sendler's message of love and respect has grown through the performances, over 1500 media stories, a student-developed website〔(Official Life in a Jar website )〕 with 30,000,000 hits, a national teaching award in Poland and the United States, and an educational foundation, the Lowell Milken Center,〔(Lowell Milken Center )〕 to make Sendler’s story known to the world. ==How the project began== Three ninth grade students, Brandon Jones,Kaylee White,and Christian Doolen, along with an eleventh grade student, Sabrina Coons, were encouraged by their teacher to be involved in a year long National History Day project. The girls decided they wanted to produce a group performance about the Holocaust.〔(Small Miracles of the Holocaust )〕 They asked their teacher for topic ideas and he gave them a box of clippings to look through. While researching they found an article entitled “Other Schindlers” which mentioned Irena Sendler’s name.〔(How Life in a Jar/the Irena Sendler project began )〕 The students had never heard of her or her story so they approached their teacher with the article. The teacher, Mrs Collins, had never heard of Sendler and thought there had to be a typographical error in the article. As a result, the students began to research and found one website on the internet that mentioned her name.〔(Jewish Foundation for the Righteous )〕 The website confirmed that Sendler had saved 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto.〔(Irena Sendler dies at 98 )〕 The students began to research at local libraries as well as the Kansas State Historical Society and the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education. However, they were unable to find information about Sendler and her network. Finally the breakthrough came. The girls received a startling email one day in February 2000: Sendler was still alive and living in Warsaw, Poland. Immediately, the students sat down and wrote a letter to send to her, enclosing a copy of their script. Sendler wrote back and the very first line in her letter said, “To my dear and beloved girls very close to my heart.” In this letter Sendler also wrote, “I am curious if you are an exception or more young people in your country are interested in the Holocaust. I think that your work is unique and worth disseminating.”〔(Award-winning Play ''Life in a Jar'' )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Life in a Jar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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