Seventh-grade English Teacher Paris Feiler organized the trip for her students and said it was a good way for them to see this period of history rather than simply reading about it.
“A lot of our kids are visual learners rather than learning from reading the text,” Feiler said. “I wanted them to connect with the museum and how important that time period was in history. I wanted them to connect with what they’re reading, put some visuals to that time, and learn a little bit more that maybe wasn’t taught.”
With a wide array of artifacts, stories, and exhibits, Legacy students deepened their understanding of the Holocaust. The Zekelman Holocaust Center features 11 core exhibits and many other historic pieces from that era.
The field trip is planned around the seventh-grade lesson plan, which includes reading both “Hitler Youth,” and “The Diary of Anne Frank.” The Zekelman Holocaust Center provided a direct connection to this material, housing a sapling from the tree outside of the Frank’s hiding place.
Feiler said students take roles and act out “The Diary of Anne Frank” in class and that this trip enriches that lesson.
“I think them being able to go to the museum and come back to continue to novel is really helpful,” Feiler said. “They’re digging deeper into not only the real-life connections, but also the character they’re reading.”
The experience also included time with a next generation speaker. These speakers are descendants of survivors, and they add a personal element to the experience. Students asked questions and learned about what life was like for Holocaust survivors.
Thanks to this robust experience showing students what life was like during that time period and providing the opportunity to speak with a survivor’s descendant, students took away much more than what’s on the page of any book.
“I really wanted them to connect with real-life things,” Feiler said. “It’s hard because it’s a period of time in which they weren’t born and neither were we, so it can be hard for them to be in tune with these topics. I wanted them to be able to build that real-life connection.”
What a great field trip! Keep up the great work Ms. Feiler and all of Legacy!
About Legacy Charter Academy
Legacy Charter Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Detroit, Michigan, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA®) network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through high school across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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