Culture Boxes Offer View of the World

Heritage Academy staff Helen Hightower and Pat O’Dea scan the contents of the Greece Culture Box, which included several books about mythology, Greek monuments and the Olympics.

Available for use by area schools and community organizations.

Imagine squashing between your fingers the warm, dark, salty mud from the Dead Sea, or trying on authentic Japaneese geta sandals.

Ever wonder what games children play in other countries, or what a Coca-Cola can from Greece looks like? Discover the world through culture boxes.

Creator and Coordinator of the Culture Box Program, Emily Wood, wanted to provide teachers with an educational tool that would not only help students learn about different countries, but would open up their view of different cultures.

In 1993, with help from Tulsa Global Alliance and Eisenhower International School (EIS), she began collecting artifacts from various countries and placing them in cardboard boxes, marked “China” or “Russia”. Today, the hundreds of artifacts are stored in plastic boxes, housed at EIS, and represent 39 countries.

Recently, Heritage Academy staff and teachers scanned the contents of the Greece and Israel boxes. It took only minutes before the chatter in the room turned from topics of exploration to a brainstorming session on new classroom projects.

“These boxes are just a jumping off point,” Wood said, as she listened to the teachers’ bright ideas. “They [the boxes] stir the imagination, not only of the students, but the teachers, as well.”

The boxes contain clothing, games, videos, books, musical instruments, art, lesson plans, activity books and more. They are fascinating resources for teachers, said Heritage Academy Director Helen Hightower.

“They open up our view of the world,” Hightower said. “Even as adults, we say, ‘I didn’t know that,’ as we view the items in the boxes. And, the more we know, the more we can give to the children.”

Maura Pollak, Judaic studies teacher, likes the idea of the boxes being multilevel, not just interesting to one age group, but to all ages, including adults.
She said the boxes would make an exciting staff development project to be used in faculty meetings.

“Teachers can delve into the boxes and bounce ideas off each other,” Pollak said. “Teachers can coordinate cross curriculum.”

In June 2004, Tulsa Global Alliance received a grant from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation to improve, enhance and maintain the Culture Boxes, and to increase awareness of their significance and availability to schools and community groups.

Emily Wood is currently conducting workshops for individual schools to show teachers the many uses of the Culture Boxes for classroom study. She is available to meet with community organizations upon request.

To request a Culture Box, call Peggy Moss at 918-746-9100.

To request a workshop, call Emily Wood at 918-749-4110.

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Heritage Academy teacher Kris Branston (left)
thumbs through a book on Greek monuments.