Life in a Jar

Life in a Jar is a project that began in the fall of 1999. Four rural Kansas students discovered the story of a Polish Catholic woman who saved Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust. While researching for a National History Day project, the students read about Irena Sendler’s story in a 1994 issue of U.S. News & World Report.
Sendler’s story was largely unknown to the world until the students developed The Irena Sendler Project, producing their performance Life in a Jar. This student-produced drama has now been performed over 285 times all across the United States, in Canada and in Poland. Sendler's message of love and respect has grown through the performances, over 1500 media stories, a student-developed website with 30,000,000 hits, a national teaching award in Poland and the United States, and an educational foundation, , to make Sendler’s story known to the world.
How the project began
Three ninth grade students, Brandon Jones,Kaylee White,and Christian Doolen, along with an eleventh grade student, Sabrina Coons, were encouraged by their teacher to be involved in a year long National History Day project. The girls decided they wanted to produce a group performance about the Holocaust. They asked their teacher for topic ideas and he gave them a box of clippings to look through. While researching they found an article entitled “Other Schindlers” which mentioned Irena Sendler’s name.
The students had never heard of her or her story so they approached their teacher with the article. The teacher, Mrs Collins, had never heard of Sendler and thought there had to be a typographical error in the article. As a result, the students began to research and found one website on the internet that mentioned her name. The website confirmed that Sendler had saved 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto.
The students began to research at local libraries as well as the Kansas State Historical Society and the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education. However, they were unable to find information about Sendler and her network. Finally the breakthrough came. The girls received a startling email one day in February 2000: Sendler was still alive and living in Warsaw, Poland. Immediately, the students sat down and wrote a letter to send to her, enclosing a copy of their script.
Sendler wrote back and the very first line in her letter said, “To my dear and beloved girls very close to my heart.” In this letter Sendler also wrote, “I am curious if you are an exception or more young people in your country are interested in the Holocaust. I think that your work is unique and worth disseminating.”
From Uniontown, Kansas to the World
The students had a dream of meeting their heroine in Warsaw, Poland. They wanted to research and explore the streets that Sendler walked during the Holocaust. While performing at a large school in Kansas City in January 2001, a Jewish educator saw the play and wanted to hear about the students’ goals for the project. After hearing they were raising funds to travel to Poland, he told them he would help their cause. He raised the money and sent the students and six adults to Warsaw for the first time in May 2001.
Irena Sendler planned a six-page, single-spaced itinerary for the group from Kansas for their stay in Poland. In addition, Sendler set up interviews and tours of the Warsaw Ghetto area with child survivors. The students also met three of the children she had saved. Renata Zajdman was 13 years old when she was saved by Sendler and her network. The students from Kansas also met Elzbieta Ficowska. She was saved at the age of 5 months. Sendler sedated her, placed her in a carpenter’s box, and whisked her out of the Ghetto. Elzbieta's mother and father placed a silver spoon with her first name and birth date on it. Elzbieta’s parents were killed at Treblinka. Michal Glowinski, whose whole family was saved by Sendler, called the students “rescuers of the rescuer's story.”
In 2002, original students and new students in the project made the second trip to Poland. While there, they were able to interview those involved in World War II and the Holocaust and spend time with Sendler. On this trip it was important that they visited Treblinka and retrace Sendler's steps in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Since 2002, the students have since made several trips to Poland. In 2005, the group went to perform Life in a Jar in Warsaw and Zakopane. In 2006, the group went to present the 1st Irena Sendler Award. In 2008, the students were able to spend time with Sendler while presenting the 2nd Irena Sendler Award. They were also able to see her for the last time just 9 days before she died on May 12, 2008. In 2009, the group went to visit her gravesite in Warsaw and present the 3rd annual Irena Sendler Award.
The students and Sendler
Throughout the years Sendler has taught the students many lessons. To read more about these lessons, view:
After discovering in early 2000 that Sendler was still living in Warsaw, the students received their first letter from Sendler in May 2000. The students have received more than 100 letters and emails from Sendler. The last time the students were able to spend time with Sendler was on May 3, 2008. Irena Sendler died on May 12, 2008.
Sendler started a tradition when the first students went to Poland to visit her. She gave them each a heart necklace. As Sendler gave them the necklace she said, "No matter where you are or what happens, you will always have a piece of my heart."
The students have also created the "Irena Sendler Award", CNN, and C-SPAN. Articles have also been published in Ladies Home Journal, Guidepost, The Chicago Tribune, The L.A. Times, as well as many others.
Hallmark Hall of Fame produced The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler in the Spring of 2009. Several of the Life in a Jar students were able to attend the industry premiere of the movie in Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles the students were able to meet Anna Paquin, who played the role of Irena Sendler in the movie. The students gave Paquin a heart necklace as Sendler had given them each a heart necklace.
The World Premiere of the Hallmark movie was held in Fort Scott, Kansas. The local premiere was a treat for the students and the community that they began the project in.

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