Photos courtesy of Deer Park School District
On Jan. 26, the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, all 10th grade social studies students at Deer Park High School attended a special screening of 2019 Holocaust documentary “The Barn.” The film follows Long Island native Rachel Kastner and her grandfather, Karl Shapiro, as they journey back to the barn where Shapiro hid in a bunker for 18 months during the Holocaust in 1943. Approximately 2,600 students across the country participated in this interactive event, organized by the National Council of Jewish Women Peninsula Section.
As students learn about the causes, events and effects of the Holocaust as part of their study of World War II in their social studies classes through lessons, virtual field trips, independent research projects and source analysis, “The Barn” served to bring the curriculum to life and connect students directly to history. Kastner, currently in Israel, personally introduced the documentary to the students and answered questions following the screening. Not only did students learn about the resilience of Karl Shapiro, but they also found out about the role of resisters and rescuers such as Paulina Plaksej, a teenager much like themselves, who visited a young Shapiro, his parents and 15 more Jews hiding in the bunker to provide them with food and medicine.
“Winston Churchill said, ‘Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it,’ and Deer Park’s social studies department is committed to ensuring our students never forget the atrocities of the Holocaust as well as honor its victims and their families, impressing in our students that such horrors never happen again,” said Vanessa Langdon, Deer Park’s social studies curriculum associate.
To fulfill this commitment, social studies teachers at Deer Park High School have engaged in a series of workshops led by the Institute for Curriculum Services, including “The History of European Anti-Semitism” and “Developing Religious Literacy.” The series has provided teachers with resources, knowledge and techniques to utilize in their classrooms. In addition, following the screening of “The Barn,” teachers shared Montana Tucker’s “How To: Never Forget” with their classes. The 10-part TikTok series, produced by Kastner, follows the experience of Tucker’s grandparents during the Holocaust. Students will continue to reflect on the lessons of the Holocaust in all grade levels as they examine human rights, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, immigration trends and current events.
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