Caledon school takes Tour for Humanity (Caledon Enterprise)

Grade 7 students from Herb Campbell Public School got a rare treat last week.

They got to step on board the acclaimed Tour for Humanity bus from the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.

“It was a really cool way to learn about history,” said Sonya Mueller, 12, just after her class took the tour. “I didn’t realize what had happened to kids at the residential schools. There was so much information on it and I feel like I really learned what it would have been like to be them.”

The Tour for Humanity is a 30-seat mobile human rights education centre that teaches about topics of diversity, democracy and Canadian civic rights and responsibilities.

“The bus is a definite asset,” says Elena Kingsbury, education associate with the Holocaust centre. “It’s like taking a field trip without having to leave the school. Kids are curious and excited when they come on board.”

The purpose of Tour for Humanity is to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds, empowering them to raise their voices and take action against hate and intolerance, bullying and to promote justice and human rights.

“It feels like a poignant time to be talking about these issues,” Kingsbury says. “We’re trying to show the students that bad things can happen anywhere. But they have the power to make a change. (U.S. President Donald) Trump’s name comes up almost every day.”

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