by George J Elbaum

Brier Terrace Middle School is a public school with an enrollment of 636 students in grades 7 & 8. Per the school’s website, we “strive to create a positive learning environment which enhances and nurtures the social, emotional, physical and intellectual growth of young adolescents. The 5P’s: polite, prepared, prompt, productive, and proud, are emphasized at school and taught and demonstrated throughout our school by students and staff.”  The school’s minority enrollment is 48% and its overall academic testing rank places it in the top 30% of WA state schools.

My presentation was organized by teacher Beth Poole, whose preparation of her 8^th grade students included: studying the history of anti-Semitism, both past and present; pre-WWII life; Hitler’s coming to power; Nuremberg Laws; racial science and eugenics; ghettos; and work/death camps.  Her students also participated in a virtual field trip to the Holocaust Center a week before my talk to help prepare them for it.

Arrangements for my presentation were made by Julia Thompson, Education Program Manager of the Holocaust Center for Humanity.

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