This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Prairie Grove Promotes Tolerance With Holocaust Museum

Prairie Grove Junior High School students will host a Holocaust Memorial Museum, open to the public, from May 24-26.

For the past three years, eighth-grade language arts teacher Kate Bieschke has led her students in the creation of a Holocaust Memorial Museum at Prairie Grove Jr. High School. The museum will feature original projects by the students, in memory and memorial of the holocaust.

The museum will be open to the public May 24-26 at the Prairie Grove Jr. High School Library.

Bieschke first started creating the museum three years ago, although the Holocaust unit and student projects began six years ago.

Find out what's happening in Crystal Lake-Carywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The first two years I was so overwhelmed and impressed with their understanding and portrayals that I thought people need to see this,” Bieschke said. 

After studying the Holocaust for several weeks, students put together projects in memorial and remembrance. Past projects include reconstruction of a boxcar, dioramas of concentration camps, memorials and poetry.

Find out what's happening in Crystal Lake-Carywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

One student wrote a thousand names on a piece of poster board and then ran a calculation to determine how many sheets would be needed to record all the names of those that died in the Holocaust.

“You’d be amazed at what the students produce,” Bieschke said.

Bieschke said that creating the Memorial Museum teaches the students to value tolerance and compassion.

“They leave with a new perspective on life, and how everything they do has an affect, whether it’s big or small. It changes their perspectives on how they view others. They commit to not judging others and to accepting others’ differences.”

In the past, the Holocaust Memorial Museum has been met with acclaim throughout the community.

“People come and they weep,” Bieschke said. “One woman told me that she was reading an article about us in the paper at McDonald’s and she left her food. She had to see it for herself.”

The community response empowers students. “They see that they can make a difference. That’s my goal,” Bieschke said.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?