World’s religions focus of class’ whirlwind tour
published Thursday, January 15, 2009 in Pioneer Press papers
By MICHELLE STOFFEL mstoffel@pioneerlocal.com
Students from Northbrook’s Wood Oaks Junior High boarded salt-stained buses last month for a whirlwind tour of the world’s major religions. While listening to presentations at a synagogue, mosque, temple and church, the sixth-graders prodded religious leaders to explain the nuances of their respective beliefs.
“One World, Many Beliefs,” the unit taught by social studies teacher Caroline Grebe, starts with an exploration of identity. Before their trip, the hallways of the middle schol were plastered in posters her students made to display their individual family’s cultural and religious identity.
“I wanted them to have the freedom to talk about and question their history,” Grebe said. “The kids start asking their grandparents about where they came from, and listening to their stories.”
At Northfield’s Temple Jeremiah, the kids excitedly volunteered informaiton on Jewish history, and watched with awe when Cantor Amy Zussman brought out an aged Torah scroll that had been rescued from Nazi destruction.
After the temple, the bus stopped at the Islamic Cultural Center of Greater chicago in Northbrook, where girls donned hoodies or scarves to cover their heads. Imam Senad Ajic carefully explained that women cover their heads as a way of emulating the Virgin Mary, revered as the mother of Jesus by Christians, but also as an important example by Muslims.
“It’s interesting how their religion differs from my own,” said student Air Cotler, who is Jewish. “It was fascinating to go check it out in person.”
Grebe hopes to equip the students with the ability to appreciate the differences between the beliefs and, by extension, the people who practice them.
That way, “if they see somebody with a turban, they don’t get scared or misunderstand. Not everyone dresses like we dress…This way they can appreciate the differences and have some respect,” Grebe said.
Speaking of his classmates, whose beliefs fall along the religious spectrum experienced that day, Muslim student Ali Khan said, “I feel like I understand them more, and know them better.”
During the unit, students learn about nine different belief systems, including Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism and, this year, Baha’i. The architecturally famous temple in Wilmette also was a tour stop.
Of the Baha’i temple, sixth-grader Ari Kaufman said, “It was so cool to see all the designs. And it’s interesting tha there’s only seven of them (Baha’i temples) in the world.”
To end the trip, St. John’s Lutheran Church’s blind pastor, the Rev. Joe McInnis, led the children in “O Come All Ye Faithful,” a hymn of the Christmas season, which celebrates the birth of Christ.
As the trip ended, student Sydney Zucker tried to sum up the experience. “We talked a lot about it in class, but to see it in person..” she said, pausing her eyes searche dthe bus’ ceiling for words.
“I learned a lot.”
