The tenth grade English classes recently left the classroom to extend their studies as they attended a field trip to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.
Heading into the trip, students had been working with literature and materials that featured the Holocaust.
“It was very saddening for me to see what they’ve done to all of those people,” said senior Sierra Libertini. “I knew from the get-go that it was going to be very emotional.” Libertini said that learning about this moment in history has reinforced that a tragedy like this, “Should never happen again.”
Some students were caught off guard at how powerful and meaningful the museum was. Sophomore Cecil Mooney also attended the trip. “At first, I didn’t expect it to be that powerful. When they described how it was going to be, I didn’t think it was going to be that sad,” said Mooney.
Sophomore Markes Cabral who attended the field trip said, “I thought it was important to learn about this tragedy because it’s a really big part of our history, and it makes a difference to know that it could happen again.” He continued by saying, “I pictured as if it was my family, or me in that kind of situation.”
Sophomore Elijah Cruz remarked that “It was sad to see like everything that happened, especially in the main concentration camp, Auschwitz, and all of the other camps.”
Mrs. Sue Dewlin, one of the teachers who attended the trip commented that most of the kids are all wild, and talking, and having a good time on the way to the museum, but “on the way back, it’s really quite, and all of the kids were in shock.”
She continued, “The kids were shocked when they get to see the actual cattle car that the people died in, and when they saw the artifacts of the bunks where they slept in.”
As a teacher, Dewlin believes when students read about the Holocaust in the textbooks, they just seem like words in a book, but when the students go on the trip, it becomes more real. “It wasn’t real in the book but when they saw it, and smelled it… it all became real,” Dewlin said.
Other tenth grade English teachers visit the museum each year as well, but Dewlin and Mr. Mike James have been coordinating their Holocaust trip for 10 years. “…Every time we go we see something new that we have never seen before , but the highlight is at the end. There’s always a survivor who sits at a table and talks to the students,” said Dewlin. “They give you a passport of the survivor and go on the different levels, and they kids were filled with joy when they found out that the person on the passport survived the Holocaust,” Dewlin said.
According to ushmm.org, more than 18.5 million individuals people representing 236 countries and territories visit the museum each year.