by George J Elbaum

Antioch High School has enrollment of 1947 students of high diversity: 48% Hispanic, 22% White, 20% Black, 3% Filipino, 4% all others, and 73% of the total are from low-income families.  Its teaching staff is 83 full-time teachers of which 91% have 3 or more years of experience.  The school’s academic program is divided into 4 Academies: Engineering and Designing a Greener Environment (EDGE), Environmental Studies, Leadership and Public Service (LEAD), and Media-Technology.

My talk at Antioch HS this year was to the 10^th grade students organized by English teachers Lynn Romano and Selena Laine as part of their study of Eli Wiesel’s Night, in conjunction with the documentary film Paperclips.  Both Environmental Studies and EDGE academies collaborated to create a meaningful and lasting learning experience for each student. Mrs. Romano and Mrs. Laine both felt that students would be able to better understand the Holocaust through the lens of multiple survivors.

Attending my talk were also Vice Principal Mike Flosi, who gave a heartfelt add-on to my talk, emphasizing the importance of fairness and tolerance in our behavior (the Golden Rule), plus Dr. David House and Vice Principal Karen Clark.

Arrangements for my participation were made by Jack Weinstein of Facing History and Ourselves.