St. Norbert School Students Learn About Holocaust

On Monday, December 11, seventh and eighth grade students from St. Norbert School in Northbrook visited the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie. The trip aligns with the school’s focus on getting students into the community to learn.

Seventh grade students recently read The Diary of Anne Frank. “This visit complements our reading unit, especially since we focus on different perspectives or stories within the Holocaust,” says MaryBeth Schwall, Junior High Language Arts instructor who organized the trip.

Students learned about the movement of Hitler throughout Europe as well as the declining treatment of the Jewish people. A survivor story from Kurt Gutfreund about his experience of living in Theresienstadt Ghetto in The Czech Republic as a child brought a personal perspective to the history. Students also learned about Jewish culture and history in Skokie and the Chicagoland area.

Eighth grade students, who read The Diary of Anne Frank last year, are building context with this trip for a history unit on World War II to come next spring with St. Norbert social studies instructor Kevin Davis-Crowder.

“Our faculty regularly seize opportunities to collaborate across grades to provide students with learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom,” says school principal Dr. Maggie Hoody.

Students enjoyed the visit – and the timeliness of the trip amidst the current conflicts in Israel and Gaza made the lessons of the day all more poignant.

For more on St. Norbert School, visit www.stnorbertschool.org.