LIBRARY NOTES
Jamie Winnick
Creative Connections: The Children's Biography Project
Saturday, March 1, 1997
Since 1994, the Children's Library Committee, with actress and educator Jamie Winnick, has developed "Creative Connections," an elementary school project that explores biography through drama.
"Creative Connections", supported by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, was first taught experimentally at the Library in early 1995 by Ms. Winnick, who, the next year, incorporated this approach to biography into the 5th Grade curriculum of P.S. 169 (in Queens District 25). The class of thirty each chose a person to study -- an historic figure or a family member -- and tried to imagine how that person might cope with today's problems. With the help of NBC anchor Deborah Roberts and NBC roving reporter Al Roker, the project cumulated in a "Summit" in the boardroom of Channel 13/WNET.
This spring, "Creative Connections" will be taught again at P.S. 169, this time with the school's own funds and faculty. A second program, for 6th Graders, will begin in the neighboring P.S. 125. Ms. Winnick will train the school's teachers to use the "Creative Connections" technique on their own. Thirteen/WNET and the Board of Education will continue their participation in the student "Summit."
The Library wishes to thank those who donated their time and expertise to edit the video of the first "Summit": Con Edison Co. of New York, Inc. (Visual Communications Department), Video Image Productions, and Laurel Davis.
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