Quaran(teen) | A Community Diary

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​​We are living in interesting times.  Schools, museums and libraries are closed, the streets are quiet, and our thoughts may be especially noisy. The New Bedford Whaling Museum is a place that celebrates and preserves New Bedford’s stories.  As representatives of the Museum, high school apprentices are working together to record their shared history...and you can too!

The Method

1. We will create a shared diary of our lives during the coming weeks.  
2. Every week, a new “idea” will be posted on the Quaran(teen) Page.  It will be titled “Today’s Idea” and may contain links or images to explore as you choose.  
3. You can choose to respond to the “idea,” or simply write a journal entry, log or record of your day and your thoughts.  It’s up to you! You can choose to respond as frequently as you would like. Ways to respond could include written text, audio recordings, videos, drawings and images, and more… 
4. Contribute to the community diary by submitting your entry to the Quaran(teen) email at communitydiary@education.whalingmuseum.org.
5. Check back to the project weekly to respond to a new "idea" and read, listen, or view the reflections of other teens just like you!

The Goals

The Goals

1. To support and connect with one another across physical distances
2. To nourish our imaginations
3. To create an important historical record of our daily lives: during this unprecedented moment and for the future​

How To Submit to the community diary

To contribute to the community diary, submit your entry to the Quaran(teen) email at communitydiary@education.whalingmuseum.org.
​Remember, your submission can be written texts, audio recordings, videos, drawings, images, etc. 

Previous Quaran(Teen) Prompts

Did you miss a last week's or a previous idea prompt and you still want to respond? No worries!  Past prompts can be accessed here: Community Diary Past Prompts

“History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read.  And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us…”
--James Baldwin, Collected Essays

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Current Prompt
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Write a Letter: Part 2
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Like a logbook, a letter captures a small piece of the  present moment and preserves it for the future.  While we are all still “safer at home”, this week, leaders in our communities started to talk about life after Quarantine.
What have you learned during this pandemic?  What wisdom can you share with others? Sometime today or this weekend, write a letter to a leader or decision-maker in your community.  Advise that person about what you have learned, and what should happen in the world or in your city after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided.
Example:  Write a letter to the President of the New Bedford Whaling Museum.  When museums re-open in the future, what will communities need or want from them?  What will young people want or need? 
 You can write your letter of advice to anyone.

Previous Prompt

​Write a Letter: Part 1

Like a logbook, a letter captures a small piece of the  present moment and preserves it for the future.

Sometime today or this weekend, write a letter to a person you cannot see… in person.  Tell that person about your day, your weekend, or your life right now.  Try to help them “see” what you are seeing or feel what you are feeling. 

Please share your letter for our historical record.  If it’s hand-written, take a picture.  Or, you could record a voice message or video letter and share that with us."
 


Please label your entry with your name and the date and email it to communitydiary@education.whalingmuseum.org.