Today, Tour for Humanity and Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Daniella spent the day in Englehart, Ontario. Englehart (population 1,400) is located right on the Trans-Canada Highway about half way between North Bay and Timmins. Today’s stop was at a regional high school for students from surrounding towns. Even still, there were only 150 students from Grades 7-12, meaning Tour for Humanity saw practically everyone over 4 workshops today. All 4 groups saw the Canadian Experience workshop, which was very well received. Given it’s location in Northern Ontario, the school was quite aware of Residential Schools as there were a few students of Indigenous decent at the school. Teachers at the school have been trying to expose students to global and historical events so many students knew a lot about the Holocaust. Daniella found that for today’s school the kids were less aware of current issues in Canada. In particular the hate crime statistics really seemed to impact them, probably since they may not see it in their community.

FSWC was also at a high school in Toronto for teenagers with special needs. FSWC Educator Elena taught 4 workshops throughout the day and they went very well, receiving a lot of praise from both staff and students. Due to the varying intellectual abilities of students in each group, Elena offered an abbreviated version of Lessons and Legacies of the Holocaust that focused primarily on Simon Wiesenthal. This helped guide the students through the process of the Holocaust without overwhelming them. Elena also placed emphasis on the idea of taking action like Simon and other heroes from history versus being a bystander. One of the standout moments of the day was an emotional one because Elena asked students to think of heroes from their own life. One student shared that her parents are her heroes because they have to work so hard to take care of her. She said she had a lot of trouble talking and walking when she was younger and she began to cry when describing how difficult it was for her parents. Elena told her that her parents sound like amazing people and its great that she appreciates them. That's what parents should do, no matter what ability their children might have, or might not, have.