Hingham Teen Fights Prejudice

Addy O’Donnell, a junior at Hingham High School, was among 106 student delegates to the Anti-Defamation League’s 14th annual Grosfeld Family National Youth Leadership Mission to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Students from across the country explored modern and historic examples of bigotry and genocide, and shared personal experiences with hatred and discrimination. The program strives to motivate students to become positive ambassadors for change in their schools and communities.

Addy joined other students from Boston Community Leadership Academy, Stoneham High School, Brookline High School, Palmer High School, Rice Memorial High School, BFA St. Albans High School, Framingham High School, Hingham High School, Reading Memorial High School.

Addy was selected for her leadership qualities and her demonstrated interest in issues of diversity.

The centerpiece of the mission is time spent at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, where students learned about the persecution and atrocities of the Second World War, and examined contemporary issues of extremism, bigotry and genocide.

“Every day, we can always make a difference, it doesn’t need to be a Holocaust,” concentration camp survivor Nesse Godin told the group.

Other presenters included Dr. Leon Bass, a retired high school principal and U.S. army veteran who helped liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp; Maria Reyes of the Freedom Writers Institute; David Waren, ADL’s Director of Education; and Michael Lieberman, ADL Washington Counsel/Director of the Civil Rights Policy Planning Center.

 The delegates attended the 17th Annual ADL In Concert Against Hate at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, featuring the National Symphony Orchestra, where they heard stories about heroes that stood up against or were the victims of hate crimes.

-Anti-Defamation League