Trip back in time
Shannon LeClair – Times Reporter
Ten students from Strathmore high school spent a week in Washington last month, April 25 to 30.
The students who went on the trip were partnered with the Asper Foundation, located in Winnipeg, and the Calgary Jewish Community Council. Both the Foundation and the Council focus on teaching students the importance of human rights and the impact of the Holocaust. This was the third year that SHS has participated in the program and only grade 10 students can be nominated by their teachers.
“Students are nominated not based on their grades, they just have to be a great student at SHS and have an interest in learning about Human Rights and the Holocaust. Students who participate are interested in the program and are willing to make the commitment,” said Tricia Bezzeg who has coordinated the program at SHS.
After the students are nominated they are given an information package and have the chance to say yes or no to the opportunity. Those who did choose to take part had to attend 10 educational sessions in Calgary over a number of weeks, which included listening to guest speakers, Holocaust survivors and generally learning about the holocaust and human rights. They also had to fulfill the requirement of 25 hours community service, read three novels, and are just now completing their final projects.
“All this work is done outside of class time, and for the students who did participate it’s an invaluable learning experience,” said Bezzeg.
“It was a lot of work, but worth it,” said Krista Stout, one of the students who went on the trip.
The Asper Foundation and the Calgary Jewish Community Council paid half the cost of the trip, with parents and students paying the other half. The foundation sends various groups of students from across Canada to Washington over a five week period. The SHS group visited the Holocaust Museum, the Museum of Natural History and many other places of interest.
Here is what the SHS students had to say about their trip:
Krista Stout thought the White House was smaller than TV depicts it, but the trip was fun and backed up what they had learned previous to going.
“The Holocaust museum was really sad, like it was really cool to see all of the different things. There was a room full of thousands of shoes and that was really sad because it showed how many people really died,” said Stout.
For student Andrew Vooys the Museum of Natural History was his favourite spot.
“If you have the chance to go, I’d say to go,” said Vooys. “It was a really good trip. Two in the morning is not a fun time to wake up to get on an airplane but the scenery down there was great.”
“I was interested in the program, I wanted to learn more about the Holocaust, my grandfather was in World War II so I wanted to learn more about it,” said Jacob Stephens another student involved in the program.
“One day I hope they will get a chance to travel, to maybe go back to Washington D.C. because it is such great city that has so much to offer, it’s a safe place to be, and they get to see so much. The kids only had the chance to see a small sampling of what Washington has to offer because to read every article, to see every artifact in a week is next to impossible,” said Bezzeg.
The entire experience was celebrated on May 13 as the students received their memorandums and graduated from the Asper Foundation.