Chatterton students learn about the Holocaust

The upstairs hallway of Chatterton Elementary School was transformed into a Holocaust museum on March 18, thanks to the work of Debby Cain’s sixth-grade class.

Posters, poems, dioramas, video slideshows, artwork and even family artifacts from World War II were on display for classmates, teachers and family members to see.

The idea for the project was born last November when the students visited the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County in Glen Cove. After the field trip, students said they wanted to go further, deeper.

“They became really interested about the Holocaust,” Cain said. “They wanted to learn so much.”

The trip to the museum was one part of the Merrick District’s plan to meet requirements of the Dignity for All Students Act, which mandates tolerance education, according to Ellen Widawsky, the school’s librarian who helped out with the students’ projects.

“The kids really embraced this,” Widawsky said. “And the district has been extremely supportive. Without their support, we couldn’t have done any of this.”

Students who took part in the Holocaust assignments said they learned a great deal about the genocide, in which millions of Jews were killed.

“I’m Jewish myself, so it was really interesting researching some of my ancestors,” said Logan Bader, who did a video slideshow on Hitler youths. “It was breathtaking to see what happened to the Jewish people. At points I thought I would tear up.”

“It was very interesting and definitely terrible,” added Nicolas Fiscella, who did his project on the Allied Forces of World War II. “I had good background on [the Holocaust] but definitely learned a lot more.”

In addition to the students’ work, the school also had a trunk full of artifacts from the Holocaust Museum in Houston on display. Books recounting World War II events were also exhibited, along with a “Kindness Pledge” for students, teachers and parents to sign.

“The students did amazing,” Cain said. “And they’re not finished. They just keep on asking more questions.”

After months of work on their Holocaust-themed projects, it is clear that Chatterton’s 2015 graduating class will never forget.