The entire tenth grade class at Smithtown High School West, united for a day of reflection, peace and hope, on Thursday. The 15th Annual Holocaust Remembrance and Genocide Awareness Day is coordinated every year, by History teacher, Christina Cone. The day encompassed first hand accounts from both the Holocaust and Rwandan genocide survivors, detailed documentaries through film and a special fundraising project to help Syrian children.
The 15th annual Holocaust Remembrance and Genocide Awareness Day began with the first-hand testimony of Holocaust Survivor, Werner Reich in the auditorium. Reich, who is one of 17,000 survivors out of 141,000 imprisoned in the Terezin concentration camp, teaches students the importance of standing up to cruel acts, through his testimony. After speaking to a full auditorium, the floor was opened up to students with questions from how Reich survived in the concentration camps to how he ended up living in Smithtown.
From fourth through seventh period, the student body watched scenes scenes from the films; The Killing Fields, Hotel Rwanda and The Devil Came on Horseback. The film presentations provided an education into the modern-day genocides of Cambodia, Rwanda and Darfur.
The students then moved on to the Healing Classrooms Challenge, in a one-period event held in the library. Students were given insight into the Syrian civil while making Pinwheels, as part of a global effort to help Syrian children recover, heal and grow into healthy adults.
“This is the first year that the students have done a fundraiser component… Each year, we ask the students to reflect on the day and many times students respond that they feel inspired and motivated to do something to help others but they don’t necessarily know where to begin. The pinwheel activity was a chance to get them on their way.” – Christina Cone, Smithtown High School West, History Teacher
In a partnership with the International Rescue Committee and Global Nomads Group, The Bezos Family Foundation has agreed to match a $2 donation for every pinwheel made and mailed in (up to $400,000) to help the children of Syria. The 10th grade class at West made 471 pinwheels, according to Cone. The students at Smithtown High School East also held the pinwheel challenge the day prior, putting the total of pinwheels made, just under one thousand.
After a lunch break, the student body returned to the auditorium for a presentation by the former President of Parliament and Rwandan genocide survivor, Joseph Sebarenzi. The worldwide peace-building activist and speaker, recounted his journey of survival through civil wars and genocide in Rwanda, using his own experience to promote healthy conflict prevention and reconciliation.
The day came to a close with a reflection worksheet for each student to process the days events in their own way. When we spoke with history teacher, Christina Cone, she told Smithtown Today, that the impact of the annual Holocaust Remembrance and Genocide Awareness Day is so profound, that she receives emails from former students years later. For 15 years now, this day of remembrance has reshaped the way Smithtown’s future generations chose to act, based on kindness, humanity and equality.