New Partnership with National Center for Families Learning Explores ‘What Inspires You?’

The Willesden Project, a partnership program of USC Shoah Foundation and Hold On To Your Music, today announced a new collaboration with the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) to promote literacy and education through a variety of programs and activities over this school year.

Launched in 2020, The Willesden Project expands the reach of The Children of Willesden Lane, teenage refugee Lisa Jura’s true story of survival, resilience, and triumph as she struggles to come of age separated from her family during World War II, as originally shared by her daughter, author and concert pianist Mona Golabek, in books and musical performances.

As an organization dedicated to eradicating poverty through education solutions for families, NCFL is a well-aligned partner to explore the story and universal themes of The Children of Willesden Lane books to support literacy skills, social emotional capacities, and reflection on current events relevant to students and families.

As an initial phase of collaboration, the first Wonder of the Day: What Inspires You? is now available on NCFL’s Wonderopolis website. This first Wonder explores Lisa Jura and Mona Golabek’s passion for music and its ability to unlock the brightest and greatest of dreams, even when facing the most challenging of obstacles.

Welcoming more than 1 million visitors a month, Wonderopolis offers an extraordinary array of engaging, fun, and educational content that inspires curiosity and imagination. 

In addition to the Wonders of the Day, NCFL and The Willesden Project are set to create additional programs and digital learning experiences from IWitness for NCFL students and families.  Resources will connect to themes of resilience, family ties, identity, and artistic expression, and engage audiences with the message that we hold within ourselves the power to overcome hatred.

The following clip of testimony from USC Shoah Foundation, which accompanies the first Wonder, features Mona Golabek describing being inspired by her mother, who survived the Holocaust and then pursued her dream to become a concert pianist.