More Exciting News-Save our History Grant Awarded to CSIHSIS

Hey Juniors-- this is for you! Get ready!

NATIONAL PARKS OF NEW YORK HARBOR EDUCATION CENTER RECEIVES
SAVE OUR HISTORY GRANT FROM The History Channel®

The History Channel Supports Preservation Initiative That Links NPNH Education Center with Statue of Liberty National Monument, Save Ellis Island, Inc., the College of Staten Island and CSI High School for International Studies

Staten Island, New York, August 25, 2007— The History Channel has awarded the National Parks of New York Harbor Education Center in Staten Island a $10,000 Save Our History grant. The Education Center will partner with Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, College of Staten Island High School for International Studies, the College of Staten Island, and Save Ellis Island, Inc., for “Immigrant Reflections: From Ellis Island to Staten Island.” Through this project 100 high school students will compare and contrast the experiences of recent immigrants to Staten Island, New York, with their predecessors who immigrated via Ellis Island almost a century ago. Students will conduct oral history interviews of recent immigrants and research those from the days of Ellis Island. They will convert their knowledge of past and present immigration into short podcasts.

The National Parks of New York Harbor Education Center is one of 27 history organizations nationwide that received Save Our History community preservation grants. These grants fund innovative preservation projects designed to bring communities together, actively engage children in the preservation of their local history and communicate the importance of saving local history for future generations.

The History Channel, with the counsel of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) and American Association of State and Local History (AASLH), created the Save Our History Grant Program as an extension of the Save Our History philanthropic initiative and is committed to inspiring and motivating local communities to learn about and take an active role in the preservation of their past through projects involving artifacts, oral histories, sites, museums or landmarks that exist in their own neighborhoods.

Our project “Immigrant Reflections: From Ellis Island to Staten Island” will bring educators from the National Park Service, Save Ellis Island, Inc., and the College of Staten Island to our school. At the school, educators and other professionals will teach eleventh graders how to conduct oral histories and how to conduct research of primary sources in history. Media consultants will aid school educators in teaching students how to create podcasts and how to take digital and video photography.

Starting in the fall, students will locate immigrants living on Staten Island for interviews. The very act of conducting oral histories will raise student awareness of local heritage. Students will also visit Ellis Island to conduct research about earlier immigrants, who passed through Ellis Island before it closed as an immigration station in 1954. By the end of the 2007-08 school year, teams of students will create podcasts, which will be available to visitors of Ellis Island.

In addition to this project, The History Channel is also awarding Save Our History grants to historic organizations in Alaska, Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont and Wisconsin.

“The History Channel receives stacks of applications for Save Our History grants,” said Dr. Libby O’Connell, SVP, Corporate Outreach and Chief Historian, The History Channel. “The National Parks of New York Harbor Education Center demonstrated the creativity and commitment to preservation and education that we believe is fundamental to giving our past a bright future.”