Opening Minds, Bridging Differences, Living Jewish Values.

Middle School Culminates Community Read of "Refugee" with Day of Programming

The Middle School's "Community Read" culminated with a full day of programming filled with guest speakers, experiential learning, and engaging activities to help reinforce their understanding of "Refugee", by Alan Gratz. The book follows the stories of three young people from different countries and times, seeking refuge from their war torn homes.

The day began with an opening ceremony featuring guest speaker Scott Miller, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Scott spoke about his position at the museum and his research of the refugee ship St. Louis, and its passengers, that were denied entry to Cuba, the United States, and Canada. The day continued with rotating sessions where each grade took part in a refugee camp simulation, heard from a speaker from HIAS, and learned about the Syrian refugee crisis. Later in the day, the students chose electives ranging from Syrian cooking, Cuban drumming, Salsa dancing, STEM projects designing boats, hearing from a member of Heschel's maintenance team who is a refugee from Tibet, and more.