Kevinheldamericanquiltmemorial

The
QUILT (that) "isn't"
IS!

From our Hearts...
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The tragedies of September 11 shook our nation and moved us deep into our souls. Many people responded in ways that would help them understand, heal and move forward. Creating individual, symbolic, "dedication" memorial quilt pieces honoring those we lost was one of those ways. Police officers, sheriff deputies, firefighters, school children and families from all over America took part. That special work is catalogued here on the American Quilt Memorial's website.

This site is dedicated to the outpouring of our hearts and the memories of those we lost. We invite you to explore and remember. We invite you to add to the quilt as a teaching or healing process with your family, school, church, organization or simply because it moves you.

It’s been our privilege, honor and humble work to meet so many Americans moved to share their feelings, thoughts and prayers. We celebrate our heroes and together, united, we honor their memories forever.

Ten (10) Year Anniversary... 
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One of the key elements widely overlooked during the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, is the cultural distance that is continuing to extend from the attacks, themselves.

While most American adults have some kind of personal temporal connection to the 9/11 attacks - a "where you were, what you were doing" when you heard story - we overlook the fact that the current crop of American junior high school/(middle school) and elementary school students have no direct personal memory of 9/11/01; for them, 9/11 is something they will learn about from a history book.

The next phase of the American QUILT Memorial (AQM) has entertained dialogue regarding shifting the focus of the American QUILT Memorial's national tour from public safety institutions to partnering with schools and other youth based organizations, inviting students creating and designing the remaining needed "dedication" quilt pieces for completion of the AQM.

Historical Relevance... 
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With the realization that 9/11 has become a necessary history lesson, and that teachers will face the challenge of creating an understanding of 9/11 and a connection to 9/11 for their students, the creation of "dedication" quilt pieces in the school setting could be harnessed as an opportunity for an enriched learning experience about 9/11, centered around the class's undertaking of completing a dedication quilt piece.

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Welcome to the
American QUILT Memorial

REMEMBERING
the victims of
(September 11, 2001)

Educational Value... 
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Moving forward, the American QUILT Memorial (AQM) has immediate plans to begin PHASE 2 of operations by exploring the option of partnering with education-focused organizations (such as the National Education Association, the education studies department of a major university, or just individual elementary and middle schools) to develop an off-the-shelf curriculum for turning the AQM into a classroom project that could include a range of enriched educational activities, for all ages:

Research regarding the 9/11 victim for whom the students will be preparing a panel
Contact/correspondence with the victim’s family (coordinated through AQM or an outside source)
Preparation/planning/creating/designing of their actual "dedication" quilt panel
Opportunity for a classroom discussion and/or "lesson-plan" to talk about 9/11 in general historical context, and to also create a personalized connection for the students, via the victim whose panel they “adopt”

In Conclusion... These are just brief examples of a wide range of possibilities for classrooms and teachers. With a developed curriculum, which could be ordered at the ready by teachers or institutions as needed, developed by a credible educator or educators, the quilt could become a widely adopted teaching tool for charter, private and public school educators.

In this scenario, and based on further development of the project, the curriculum and associated services (such as connecting each classroom with an honoree for their panel and with the honoree’s surviving family) could become a no-cost-to-the-classroom, historical classroom project, for each class in the school, that unites students with their recent past like never done before. The American QUILT Memorial offers students an opportunity of a REAL, "hands-on-approach" to history. The activity of creating and designing a dedication quilt piece, as a class, unites the class as a whole, creating interaction between students, promoting the exchanging of creative ideas, while encouraging leadership skills in a classroom "lesson-plan," bringing students together with real life time history in a wonderful hands-on teaching tool for all ages.

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