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Orange students' work displayed at Notre Dame College
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BY: ARLENE FINE, Staff Reporter
Imagine working on a class project that is so outstanding it warrants its own public exhibit.
Forty-eight members of Orange High School's senior class have earned that honor.
Orange social studies teacher Gail Price and gifted intervention specialist Petra Moran crafted a multigenre Holocaust project titled “Victims, Perpetrators, Rescuers and Survivors.” It was such a success that a number of the classes' works will be exhibited at Notre Dame College's Clara Fritzsche Library from Jan. 18 - Feb. 2.
“The pieces in the exhibit reflect a great deal of imagination and a full range of emotions from utter despair to hope,” says Karen Zoller, director of the Fritzsche Library. “The finished works vary in technique and medium but when viewed as a whole create a powerful statement.”
To prepare for their unit, the students immersed themselves in the world of Nazi-occupied Europe. They read the graphic novels Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman. These are written in comic book form and retrace Spiegelman's father's story of survival during the Holocaust.
The teens also studied biographies of Holocaust victims and survivors from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. They viewed the film “Schindler's List” and listened to Cleveland-area survivor Max Edelman speak about the Holocaust.
In the style of Spiegelman's Maus I & II, the students were asked to create a one-page cartoon panel about a victim, bystander, rescuer or resister. They also wrote a statement explaining the relevance of their particular cartoons.
Another class assignment was a letter or other communication either from a survivor's or a bystander's perspective that incorporated five to seven historical facts about Nazi-era Germany.
“Some of the students' letters and postcards were written on paper they aged by putting wet tea bags on the pages or burning the edges,” says Price. “The day these projects came in, my classroom smelled like a damp fireplace.”
One student wrote a letter from a survivor to his grandson telling him about his horrific experience. Another wrote a poem incorporating the voices of two survivors - a man and a woman. A third student wrote a diary entry from a teenager to her boyfriend.
The plight of the Roma or Gypsies during the Holocaust was depicted by a student who made a jewelry box out of pieces of cardboard. Inside, she placed pictures of Gypsies, and on the back of each picture she wrote their stories. Inside the box she placed a teddy bear and jewelry.
Another student described a teen who was left behind after his parents were taken to the camps. He decided to hang himself with the only thing available - his shoelaces. He wrote a goodbye letter on the bottom of the shoes. The shoes, along with the story, were part of the student's presentation.
Inspiration for the project stemmed from the resource book Facing History and Ourselves, which focuses on how to deal with prejudices, racism and anti-Semitism.
Price and Moran used the Holocaust as a case study on genocide. The class projects enabled the students to empathize with survivors. They also learned how one person can make a difference either as a rescuer or a resister.
“We have a very diverse student body,” says Price. “We were not sure how much involvement or interest we would get from our students.”
To the teachers' amazement, the multigenre approach to the study of the Holocaust captured everyone's interest and imagination. “We were overwhelmed with the results,” says Price. “Even our struggling students were turned on by this project.”
“This project was very personal,” says senior Jennifer Schumann, who was enthralled with the class assignment. “Each student reacted differently to the events surrounding the Holocaust.”
The Victims, Perpetrators, Rescuers and Survivors exhibit at Notre Dame College, 4545 College Road, South Euclid, runs from Jan. 18 - Feb. 2 and is sponsored by the College's Tolerance Resource Center. An opening reception will be Thurs., Jan. 18, from 7-9 p.m. For information, contact Karen Zoller at 216-373-5267.
afine@cjn.org
Forty-eight members of Orange High School's senior class have earned that honor.
Orange social studies teacher Gail Price and gifted intervention specialist Petra Moran crafted a multigenre Holocaust project titled “Victims, Perpetrators, Rescuers and Survivors.” It was such a success that a number of the classes' works will be exhibited at Notre Dame College's Clara Fritzsche Library from Jan. 18 - Feb. 2.
“The pieces in the exhibit reflect a great deal of imagination and a full range of emotions from utter despair to hope,” says Karen Zoller, director of the Fritzsche Library. “The finished works vary in technique and medium but when viewed as a whole create a powerful statement.”
To prepare for their unit, the students immersed themselves in the world of Nazi-occupied Europe. They read the graphic novels Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman. These are written in comic book form and retrace Spiegelman's father's story of survival during the Holocaust.
The teens also studied biographies of Holocaust victims and survivors from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. They viewed the film “Schindler's List” and listened to Cleveland-area survivor Max Edelman speak about the Holocaust.
In the style of Spiegelman's Maus I & II, the students were asked to create a one-page cartoon panel about a victim, bystander, rescuer or resister. They also wrote a statement explaining the relevance of their particular cartoons.
Another class assignment was a letter or other communication either from a survivor's or a bystander's perspective that incorporated five to seven historical facts about Nazi-era Germany.
“Some of the students' letters and postcards were written on paper they aged by putting wet tea bags on the pages or burning the edges,” says Price. “The day these projects came in, my classroom smelled like a damp fireplace.”
One student wrote a letter from a survivor to his grandson telling him about his horrific experience. Another wrote a poem incorporating the voices of two survivors - a man and a woman. A third student wrote a diary entry from a teenager to her boyfriend.
The plight of the Roma or Gypsies during the Holocaust was depicted by a student who made a jewelry box out of pieces of cardboard. Inside, she placed pictures of Gypsies, and on the back of each picture she wrote their stories. Inside the box she placed a teddy bear and jewelry.
Another student described a teen who was left behind after his parents were taken to the camps. He decided to hang himself with the only thing available - his shoelaces. He wrote a goodbye letter on the bottom of the shoes. The shoes, along with the story, were part of the student's presentation.
Inspiration for the project stemmed from the resource book Facing History and Ourselves, which focuses on how to deal with prejudices, racism and anti-Semitism.
Price and Moran used the Holocaust as a case study on genocide. The class projects enabled the students to empathize with survivors. They also learned how one person can make a difference either as a rescuer or a resister.
“We have a very diverse student body,” says Price. “We were not sure how much involvement or interest we would get from our students.”
To the teachers' amazement, the multigenre approach to the study of the Holocaust captured everyone's interest and imagination. “We were overwhelmed with the results,” says Price. “Even our struggling students were turned on by this project.”
“This project was very personal,” says senior Jennifer Schumann, who was enthralled with the class assignment. “Each student reacted differently to the events surrounding the Holocaust.”
The Victims, Perpetrators, Rescuers and Survivors exhibit at Notre Dame College, 4545 College Road, South Euclid, runs from Jan. 18 - Feb. 2 and is sponsored by the College's Tolerance Resource Center. An opening reception will be Thurs., Jan. 18, from 7-9 p.m. For information, contact Karen Zoller at 216-373-5267.
afine@cjn.org
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