Westlake High Students Tapped for Tolerance Conference

Eleven WHS students will be headed to John Caroll University for the Facing History Student Summit.

Juniors Maranda Haas, Ricky Kolar, Shannon Kruger, Sarah Prescott and Abby Salem; and sophomores Corinne Furci, Kate Johnson, Caroline Kane, Sela Cunningham, Ian Hulse and Charlie Baddour were selected by American History teacher Beth Noren for their active participation in her classroom in promoting acceptance and diversity in the school community.

“The goal is to get students thinking of innovate ways to spread the ideas of tolerance and acceptance in their school community,” Noren said. “They will be working with various school districts from around Northeast Ohio. They build friendships outside their own school community and learn from one another.”

The sophomores in the group will be nominated as student senators to Facing History and Ourselves to replace Westlake’s graduating student senators— Rachel Evans, Michelle Canestrano, Andrew Spreng, Lindsay Weeast and Jaclyn Wulf.

Facing History and Ourselves is a Boston-based international organization that promotes tolerance and acceptance by using aspects of history, including the Holocaust, Little Rock Nine, the American Genocide, the American Eugenics Movement and Islamophobia.