Tour for Humanity spent today at a public school in Timmins. It was a very special day at a very special school. Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Daniella spoke with the principal when she first arrived at the school, and the principal shared a little bit of background information about the students and the school. It turns out that the majority of the students are bussed in from more rural areas around Timmins, and the school is specifically designed for low-income families and students from alternative situations. Many students had lost one or both parents or were being raised by other family members. The school runs a breakfast, lunch and after school snack program because for some students that would be the only food they receive all day. Similarly, there are multiple in-school sports teams, clubs and after-school programs because many of the families could not afford to send their children to extra-curricular activities. The principal also told Daniella that she really appreciated FSWC coming to the school and that she is always looking for ways to expose her students to global issues.

This all became evident during the second workshop of the day, and it nearly broke Daniella's heart. It was a Grade 5/6 class so Daniella was working on Simon's Story. Daniella was trying to paint a picture for the class about the conditions inside of a concentration camp faced by Simon Wiesenthal and other prisoners. Daniella explained about the types of food that people were given, describing the thin soup a few times a day. A girl sitting in the front row looked a little confused and then said, "That doesn't seem so bad. That's kind of what we eat some days."  That one simple sentence really brought home for Daniella how some of the students lived. That also helped explain why they were able to connect so well with the material. Many of the younger students identified with Simon and therefore were able to see the effects of judging someone or treating someone differently simply because of who they are. 

FSWC Educator Elena was in Bradford (north of Newmarket) to give workshops to students at a Kindergarten-Grade 8 elementary school in the Catholic board.  Elena taught 2 workshops, each 2 hours, to all of their students from Grades 6-8. One of the unique features of the school was a small chapel area and Elena was thrilled to be leading workshops in that space (great acoustics!) The Grade 6s participated in our Digital Hate workshop and the older students participated in the Leadership 101 workshop. Both groups were great to work with and the Grade 6s in particular seemed to really love the entire program. Many of them had personal experiences of being bullied online or being a “bystander” to bullying online. Elena talked about some of the options we have when it comes to reporting/removing information from websites and one young man seemed quite knowledgeable, advising his friends that instead of just relying on the “report” button, the most direct way to address bullying or harassment online would be to email the web developer directly with screenshots of the offensive material. 

The leadership workshop was also very successful and Elena used the contrast between Nazi leadership and Righteous Among the Nations to help them understand what leadership really means. Elena emphasized that the Nazis often used outright lies and fear to justify what they were doing and later on when she talked about the qualities we need to look for in leaders, several students emphasized honesty and fairness.  Elena also used Simon as an example of how difficult experiences/struggles in life can actually motivate us to make lasting change in the world.