“I saw myself in the mirror, and it looked so different.  My eyes were clear and deep, my cheeks were rosy, which they hadn’t been in weeks, my mouth much softer.  I looked happy and yet there was something so sad in my expression that the smile completely faded from my face.” Anne Frank, January 7, 1944

The Simcha Project

Celebrating a special occasion in your life? Want to build a lasting connection with a grandparent, older relative, or friend? Interested in aiding destitute Holocaust survivors while educating and inspiring the next generation? Begin your Simcha Project today!

The AFC USA and The Blue Card are proud to introduce the Simcha Project. This engaging program provides Bar/Bat Mitzvah candidates, students of all ages, and individuals celebrating a special occasion with the opportunity to learn about the Holocaust through the eyes of Anne Frank and to provide direct assistance to needy survivors living in the U.S.

Together, the chance to meet with Holocaust survivors, understand the enduring lessons of this tragic history, and building a stronger connection to a relative or friend make completing the Simcha Project a truly unforgettable experience!

• For more information and to start your project
  Download the PDF brochure >
  

 “Celebrate Independent Thinking: Lecture Film and Performance Series”

FAMILY PROGRAMS

Multicultural Recording of Anne Frank's Diary
In honor of Anne Frank's 80th birthday in 2009, The Anne Frank Center USA is celebrating with a multicultural recording of excerpts from Anne's diary. This educational recording will be made available to a variety of media as a way to tell Anne Frank's story in New York City.

The mission of this project is to incorporate the voices of people from a variety of backgrounds, bridging cultural, ethnic, religious, and racial divides, a step toward fulfilling Anne Frank's desire to live in a society based on mututal respect.

If you would like to participare, please contact Maureen McNeil at 212-431-7993 ext. 302 or email mmcneil(at)annefrank.com. Also please spread the word to those you know who may be interested in participating.

ADULT CLASSES


"Facing History, Anne Frank and Ourselves"
This is an accredited Department of Education 30-hour "P" credit course, designed for teachers, but registration is open to all adults. Summer course is from July 27 -31, 2009, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the AFC. The goal of the course is to help teachers discover the spirit within a 13 year old child that would enable and inspire her to write a diary that would ultimately become one of the most frequently read books in the world. It is meant advance the legacy of Anne Frank and examine the consequences of intolerance, prejudice, racism and anti-Semitism. The Diary of Anne Frank will be read and examined as a primary document of the Holocaust. There will be weekly videos, photographs, pictures and audios that relate to the topics covered, as well as guest speakers who are Holocaust survivors.

> Download PDF Flyer


OUTREACH PROGRAM
Anne Frank educators bring programs to independent and assisted living centers, community centers, libraries and clubs in the New York metropolitan area. The program includes a discussion about Anne Frank’s Diary, a video and a Q&A or a survivor visit.  On-site group programs include a talk on the permanent exhibit. 


Celebrate Independent Thinking, a film, lecture and art series, furthers the educational mission of the Anne Frank Center USA by inspiring audiences of all ages and backgrounds to use art as a lens to look critically at the world and take action against all forms of discrimination. The story of Anne Frank is the best known story of courage outside The Netherlands, yet there are many contemporary stories by today’s artists that further Anne Frank’s mission of motivating the public to embrace moral courage in thoughts and actions. Michele Ohayon and Renee Sanders are two such artists.

> click here for detailed information



Diary 21: Are We Reading Loud Enough?
In 2008 The Anne Frank Center began collaboration with Stephen Sondheim’s Young Playwrights organization. New York City high school students in an advanced playwriting workshop wrote and performed for a private audience a play called Anne Frank and Friends ask…Are We Writing Loud Enough? Steve Press, the actor who played Peter Van Daan in the original 1955 Broadway production of “The Diary of Anne Frank,” will be joining Diary 21. The second annual performance will be held in May 2009, in celebration of Anne Frank’s 80th birthday. The 2008-2009 partner schools are Washington Irving High School and the NYC Lab School. Students from these two very different schools will come together as an audience and watch their written work be performed by actors. Award winning director Liz Swados will choreograph and direct the performance piece on May 11, 2009.

Are We Writing Loud Enough? is a theater piece, created annually, to celebrate and expand on the writing and legacy of Anne Frank through the essays, journals, fictional and biographical pieces written by contemporary New York city students. The theater piece, each year, reflects the current global ethic and the social and political climate. The students comment on their world much as Anne Frank did and, hopefully initiate change through courage.

Are We Writing Loud Enough? is offered, each year, to two partner schools who visit The Anne Frank Center’s gallery, read Anne Frank: They Diary of a Young Girl, keep their own journal, and work with a professional playwright in preparation of the script which may concentrate on a single issue such as immigration and assimilation, or may include a wider range of topics. The theater pieces bring into the public awareness the needs and concerns of the future generation.

Are We Writing Loud Enough? is a collaboration between the Anne Frank Center, USA, Young Playwrights Inc., and the Vineyard Theater.

For more information, please contact Maureen McNeil at mmcneil@annefrank.com or 212-431-7993 ext. 302  First Sunday Family Diary-Making ProjectDates: October 3, November 1, and December 6 from 11AM – 4PM Cost: Suggested donation of $5 per childReservations recommended