Jack Abrams School Witnesses King Tut’s Return
The world famous King Tut exhibit returned to New York City late last month after a three decade absence and Jack Abrams Intermediate School students were there after winning tickets through their participation in an essay contest sponsored by the Discovery Times Square Exposition.
Teachers Victoria Creighton and Patricia Nowack had their classes write essays addressing the contest theme “If I were crowned Pharaoh for the day . . . .” One week later, students learned they had won free admission to the fascinating exhibit. After the teachers were notified they would be getting 40 additional tickets, more Jack Abrams School students put pen to paper and submitted essays.
The experience has been called “a once in a lifetime opportunity” since the exhibit comes to the metropolitan area so infrequently. Two buses carried 80 students and their chaperones into Manhattan for a day of fun.
“Our visit took place the day before the official opening of the exhibit,” Ms. Nowack said. “As the students entered the lobby they were handed a pharaoh’s crown as a souvenir. A short video introduced students to the history of King Tut and Howard Carter [who led the team that discovered King Tut’s tomb]. Then students in small groups entered the exhibit.”
“Each of the eleven rooms held fascinating findings of artifacts from ancient Egypt and King Tut’s tomb,” Ms. Creighton said. The exhibit contained a replica of King Tutankhamun’s mummy, his prestigious dragger, luxurious fan, ankh mirror case and numerous statues.”
What would students do if they were the pharaoh for a day? Some of the ideas included making education available to every child, cleaning up the environment, providing safe water supplies for everyone, create a water park, declare a holiday and have no school for the day and feed and shelter all people in need.
Librarian Patricia Dillon, who served as a chaperone, called the excursion “one of the best organized field trips.”
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