While shadowing Facilitator Hilary Marshall in Glens Falls, New York, I had the pleasure of meeting Jacquiline Touba and Lynne Rosenthal. Lynne interviewed Jacquiline about her life in New York and Tehran, Iran. Jacquiline also talked about her work as Executive Director of the World Awareness Children’s Museum. Founded in 1995, the World Awareness Children’s Museum aims to foster understanding and appreciation of worldwide cultural diversity for children and adults.

Some of the programs offered by the World Awareness Children’s Museum include educational outreach programs, on-site cultural exhibitions and special events. The Museum is also the home of the International Youth Art Exchange (ARTex) that consists of artwork created by children from across the globe including Argentina, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, England, Federated States of Micronesia, Finland, France, Gabon, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrghyzstan, Latvia, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Georgia, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovenia, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, Zimbabwe and many more. Exhibitions are available for other venues - businesses, hospitals, offices and other public spaces in Glens Falls and beyond!

Current shows can be seen at Aimie’s Dinner and Movie Gallery in Glens Falls and at the Saratoga Children’s Museum in Saratoga Springs, New York.

After our lovely stint in Saranac Lake, we drove south through the Adirondacks and ended up just outside of the Adirondack Park in Glens Falls, New York, a small, friendly town appropriately nicknamed “Hometown U.S.A.” by Look Magazine in the 1940s. Facilitator Jenna Weiss-Berman bid farewell to Yuki Aizawa and welcomed a new co-facilitator, Hilary Marshall. We met lots of wonderful people in Glens Falls, including Jane Jacobs, above, who proudly displayed her recording for our post-interview photos. Jane talked about her parents, both immigrants from Italy. Her father was passionate about music and built himself a violin out of a cigar box when he was a child. He eventually got a real violin and played music on the Staten Island Ferry to make money. Years later, he started an orchestra at the Struthers Library Theater in Warren, Pennsylvania, where he played music in the orchestra pit during silent films. Jane grew up around her father’s music and began to play music herself, eventually leading to a scholarship at Oberlin College. She graduated in 1943, sixty-two years before Jenna, Jane’s facilitator, graduated from the same college. Above, Jane Jacobs leaves the booth with her interview partner and friend Ellen Butz. After Jane’s interview, we welcomed Al Posteraro (Right) and his friend Kevin Knapp. Kevin works at the group home where Al lives and brought Al to the booth to talk about his life. Al, who is truly a jack of all trades, has recently picked up a new hobby of writing history books. He also enjoys playing the drums, hanging out with his firefighter friends, and ringing a Salvation Army bell every winter to get donations. Al recently also became CPR and First Aid certified, which he says was the proudest moment of his life.