VALLEY ROUNDUP : Program Introduces Kids to Immigrant Experience

Girls wrapped old shawls around their shoulders and boys donned aging vests Sunday afternoon during a lesson at the Skirball Cultural Center about the Jewish immigrant experience.

The children learned about the sorts of struggles immigrants endure, whether they are from Mexico, Asia or Europe, through the museum’s family program: “Americans and Their Family Stories.”

“We want to create a program so families look at our history in a fun way,” said Shari Davis, coordinator of family programs at the Skirball Cultural Center nestled in the Sepulveda Pass near the Getty Center. “The point is to expose children to a variety of experiences that brought people to America.”

Five children and two adults participated in the sparsely attended program, which is based on a similar tour established last year for fifth-graders studying immigration during the regular school year.

Museum docent Barbara Werlin led the children through the Jewish immigrant experience, where they saw murals of the Statue of Liberty. The children also watched a movie about how immigrants piled onto old barges that brought them to the United States from the 1890s to the 1920s.

“I learned that immigrants had a hard time on the ship,” said 9-year-old Monique Poirier of Chatsworth. “That was sad.”

The children also looked at items donated to the museum by people in the community, such as jewelry, old clothes, and other mementos brought from Europe.

“It’s teaching them that life didn’t begin today and that everything has a beginning,” said Monique’s mother, Tracey Poirier, 40. “They are also learning the importance of tradition and history in life.”