WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 1 00:00:00.780 --> 00:00:06.220 The National Medal for Museum and Library services is the nation’s highest honor for 2 00:00:06.220 --> 00:00:11.690 libraries and museums that are serving their communities in exciting ways. 3 00:00:11.690 --> 00:00:17.050 Erie Art Museum director John L. Vanco and community member Victoria Angelo traveled 4 00:00:17.050 --> 00:00:22.680 to Washington to receive the national medal and spoke to IMLS about how the museum impacts 5 00:00:22.680 --> 00:00:23.680 the community. 6 00:00:23.680 --> 00:00:27.680 John L Vanco: Old Songs New Opportunities is a program that was initiated by the art 7 00:00:27.680 --> 00:00:30.750 museum based in our folk arts program. 8 00:00:30.750 --> 00:00:37.489 And the idea -- our folklorist’s idea initially was to be able to collect songs and dances 9 00:00:37.489 --> 00:00:38.910 from the new-comer population. 10 00:00:38.910 --> 00:00:46.070 There are a lot of refugees in Erie proportionately 10% of the cities population now; over 10% 11 00:00:46.070 --> 00:00:48.339 are refugees have come in the past decade. 12 00:00:48.339 --> 00:00:57.699 It seemed a wise thing to focus our folk art program on that group and in the process of 13 00:00:57.699 --> 00:01:07.530 conceiving how to go about that, Kelly Armors our folklorist and education director quickly 14 00:01:07.530 --> 00:01:14.390 discerned that there was a real need for employment opportunities for the refugee women. 15 00:01:14.390 --> 00:01:20.990 Victoria Angelo: No I didn’t have skills and I didn’t know how I was going to live 16 00:01:20.990 --> 00:01:27.479 with my kids but because of them, they helped us a lot. 17 00:01:27.479 --> 00:01:34.000 John L Vanco: So we teamed up with a – the better kid care program at Penn State, so 18 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.240 the women went through a training program that basically certified them to work in an 19 00:01:37.240 --> 00:01:38.240 American daycare. 20 00:01:38.240 --> 00:01:45.090 Victoria Angelo: I met Kelly Armor and she introduced me to the program of old song opportunity 21 00:01:45.090 --> 00:01:50.020 and then now I am working in a childcare center as a childcare provider. 22 00:01:50.020 --> 00:01:56.119 John L Vanco: At St. Martins they assign a teacher to a group of children when they are 23 00:01:56.119 --> 00:02:01.840 babies and then she stays with them as they grow up until they get to be four or five. 24 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:08.119 Victoria Angelo: We move, we move with them from class to class until they are five. 25 00:02:08.119 --> 00:02:12.220 John L Vanco: And then they, she starts over again so she is starting again with a new 26 00:02:12.220 --> 00:02:14.040 group of baby. 27 00:02:14.040 --> 00:02:20.269 Our part of it then was to get them to come up with songs and in some cases dances. 28 00:02:20.269 --> 00:02:26.310 All these women would bring a song to the group, the whole group learns the song and 29 00:02:26.310 --> 00:02:31.450 then they figure out an English translation for it, and so they all sing each other’s 30 00:02:31.450 --> 00:02:32.450 songs. 31 00:02:32.450 --> 00:02:37.209 Victoria Angelo: In Africa we teach our kids discipline through our tradition, we teach 32 00:02:37.209 --> 00:02:38.840 them songs, we teach them dance. 33 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:46.159 John L Vanco: And we have also done a lot of trainings for existing daycare workers 34 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:48.361 teaching them to use song and dance. 35 00:02:48.361 --> 00:02:53.190 It’s a best way for children of that age to learn. 36 00:02:53.190 --> 00:02:59.590 Victoria Angelo: Through the cultural institutes they supported us with some money. 37 00:02:59.590 --> 00:03:03.659 Then we train our kids, we teach them songs, we teach them the language, we teach them 38 00:03:03.659 --> 00:03:06.700 dances and now they are doing good. 39 00:03:06.700 --> 00:03:14.110 They like to know about where they are from, about what is our tradition, so we keep our 40 00:03:14.110 --> 00:03:15.269 tradition alive. �