The Moriah School’s sixth grade hosted its annual Heritage Fair for close to 300 attendees. The Heritage Fair began at The Moriah School in 1997, and has become an essential component of the sixth grade curriculum.

“The Heritage Fair connects all of us with our historic past. I am extremely grateful to each family that has generously allowed The Moriah School to display a small piece of their family’s history,” says Rachel Schwartz, Middle School English Department head. “As a community, we are able to share our heritage for one special evening.”

The Heritage Fair program began in January with a sixth grade class trip to the Museum of Jewish Heritage. There, students learned about artifacts from past generations. Students were then encouraged to speak with parents and grandparents about special family heirlooms and their significance to the family. The heirlooms and stories were brought back to the classroom to be shared with classmates and ultimately put on display at the Heritage Fair for the community to see. Each heirloom was accompanied by a detailed story written by the students and distributed collectively as a catalog to all fair-goers.

The Moriah School is now part of the Living Museum, a project designed by the Museum of Jewish Heritage and based on The Moriah School Heritage Fair. The project is of particular importance because Moriah is dedicated to instilling in its students the importance of preserving family history and Jewish legacy.