On Wednesday, January 28, four scholars from Mrs. Younghan’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies course at Middletown High School designed and led ceremonies throughout the day to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Mia White, Lindsay Lopez Morales, Firdes Kaba and Messia Vasquez led scholars in Global History and Geography II classes through the ceremony that highlighted excerpts from the diaries of three Jewish teenagers living in Poland and Hungary, as well as poems read by scholars in the audience. The ceremony also included a historical overview of the Holocaust and International Holocaust Remembrance Day, as well as opportunities for engaging with an interactive timeline, listening to survivor testimonies, and creating a memorial candle. Mia, Lindsay, Firdes, and Messia designed this ceremony to teach their peers about the atrocities of the Holocaust and help ensure a tragedy like this never happens again.