by George J Elbaum
College Park High School is a highly rated public school with a current enrollment of 2050 students of which 58% are minority, 22% are from low income families, and 5% are English Language learners. Despite these demographics, College Park is far above California state averages of college and career readiness, such as student test scores (English 69% vs 47% CA avrg, Math 47% vs 35% CA avrg, Science 51% vs 30% CA avrg), and has 96% graduation rate vs 87% CA avrg, 81% pursuing college or vocational program vs 65% CA avrg – all quite impressive. (Data is from 2023 GreatSchools.org.)
This presentation to College Park, my 6th since 2019, was to the entire 10th grade class (350-400 students) and was again organized by World History teacher Lauren Weaver, as she had done each year since 2019 – interacting with her again and viewing her interaction with her students was a real pleasure. The students have studied WWII and the Holocaust, so knew about governmental persecution in Germany in the 1930s, including anti-Semitic policies and hate crimes, targeted boycotts, the Nuremberg laws, book burnings, Kristallnacht, forced relocations to the ghettos, deportations, and death camps under the “final solution”.
Unlike Zoom presentations during Covid years, I was very pleased to be able to make this one in person, to establish eye contact during the Q&A, answer some very good questions, shake hands & take selfies with students and to make the whole experience much more personal and enjoyable – all a very good example that electronic communication, for all its convenience, will never replace direct personal contacts.
Arrangements for this talk at College Park were made by Patrick Dunne, Office Manager, JFCS.org
