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Today Tour for Humanity spent the day at a high school in Milton where Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Daniella presented 4 Canadian Experience workshops to Grade 10 students. The History department head organized the visit after hosting a Lessons and Legacies of the Holocaust workshop with Max Eisen back in March. This high school has been involved with FSWC for a number of years after their principal (now retired) went on Tools for Tolerance.

Daniella was informed during the day that the school had recently had issues surrounding the discrimination of some LGBT students, while not the focus of our workshops we do discuss current hate crime statistics which include crimes based on sexual orientation. The teacher commented afterwards that he was very glad that everything fit in so well. Aside from that, the classes are currently studying World War II.

The last class of the day was particularly memorable in part due to one student. He was very eager to answer as many questions as possible and impressed Daniella with his knowledge of both the Holocaust and Canadian history. It was his comment at the end of the workshop that really caught her attention and stayed with her. After discussing ways that each individual could be a hero and make a positive change, he raised his hand. He said he felt very sad with the state of the world today and that it seemed like history was repeating itself again but no one was paying attention. Daniella found this to be a very meaningful statement. She agreed with him in part that yes history does repeat if we aren't careful but that was why it was so important to understand the lessons of history and to make sure we each do our part to not judge other people. Daniella encouraged the class not to accept things as being "fine" if things aren't fine and to do one small positive thing every day.