LAPEL — Heather Rusche, librarian at Lapel elementary and middle schools, spoke to the Frankton-Lapel Community Schools board at its most recent meeting Feb. 13, describing a learning experience that was made available this week for students from Grades 4-8.
Students are learning about the life of Eva Kor, an Auschwitz survivor, who settled in Terre Haute. Kor passed away in 2019.
The story of her life takes students through virtual reality technology, to four places centered to Kor’s experience in Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.
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Rusche told the board the videos are not graphic, nor meant to scare students and are not video games.
The videos are designed to teach students about Kor’s experience as a 10-year-old girl and her belief in the power of forgiveness.
“They’re designed to show students not only what she went through, but also how she was able to heal and live an enriched life, teaching the power of love over hate,” Rusche told the board.
Rusche said the videos had been vetted by teachers and met Indiana’s new mandate calling for enhanced Holocaust education as well as the state’s social emotional learning.
“Teaching history as well as social emotional learning is a win-win for the students,” Rusche said. “As an aside, The New York Times had a report that 41% of Americans and 66% of Millennials don’t know what Auschwitz was.”
About a million people died or were killed at Auschwitz, according to the U.S. Holocaust Museum.
Rusche said she believes the message of Kor’s experience, of placing love over hate, is one that can be applied to many instances in life, including challenges that some students face, such as bullying and discrimination.
“I see kids struggling to fit in, struggling to make it through the day,” she said. “Kids are struggling, dealing with divorce, don’t have enough to eat. This is a seed to plant in their head that you can struggle but you can overcome and you can overcome with love and not hate.”
McCurdy is finalist
Lapel High School senior Jesse McCurdy opened the meeting by leading those in attendance with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Prior to the pledge, Principal John Willis read a long list of McCurdy’s accomplishments and accolades. He is ranked No. 1 in his class, earned all-state tennis honors, earned a certificate for multi-lingual proficiency in Spanish in three years and participated in the Bulldog Mentor Leadership Council.
Willis also announced a new accomplishment: McCurdy was named a National Merit Scholarship Finalist.
Scholarship winners represent fewer than 1% of the initial pool of student entrants, which begins as an estimated 1.6 million students, according to the National Merit Scholarship Program web site.
“We are extremely proud of that,” Willis said.
Boles named Workplace Champion
Kim Williams, vice president of Resource Development of United Way in Madison County, presented Assistant Superintendent Sterling Boles with the United Way Workplace Champion of the Year award.
In her presentation to Boles, Williams said, “Workplace Champions are the backbone of United Way’s annual fundraising efforts and they allow us to provide much needed services to local individuals and families in need.
“Those campaigns are led by dedicated individuals who become our personal cheerleaders within the organization, planning events, inspiring co-workers and sharing the impact of United Way in our community, all in addition to the job they do every day.”
Specifically, Williams said Boles took on the leadership role for the school district’s campaign two years ago and was integral in organizing competitions between buildings, introducing popular incentives and new ways to recognize participants.
Through those efforts, Frankton-Lapel schools United Way campaign increased by more than 300% the past two years and added donors.
“His commitment has made a huge difference,” Williams said.
