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We hope that you noticed the many cardstock butterflies hanging from the ceiling for nearly the length of "Hawk Hall." Each butterfly represents a book that was read this year by middle school students who dedicated their reading to a child who was lost during The Holocaust.
Mrs. Cabourg, Mrs. Maketansky, and Ms. Mendes have embraced this idea and have encouraged their students to participate frequently in this project. The response has been overwhelming.
The butterfly appears frequently as a symbol of freedom in Holocaust literature, most notably in the profoundly moving non-fiction title: I Never Saw Another Butterfly: Children's Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942 - 1944 and in the equally emotional non-fiction selection by Patricia Polacco, The Butterfly.
Students did not have to limit their reading to books about The Holocaust. A reading of any book could be dedicated to the memory of their lost child. At the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year, Mrs. Cabourg introduced the 6th grade to the project along with a brief overview of the historical period and some of the fiction and non-fiction literature that has resulted from this shameful period in human history. Each student was given the name of a child who did not survive the Holocaust so that 1.5 million children are not forgotten.
Students in 7th and 8th grades continued to dedicate their readings to the victims they were assigned last year. Mrs. Maketansky and Ms. Mendez worked with students, reading novels dealing with this intolerable period of history and the strength and character of the people who lived and witnessed it.
This year students in Mrs. Cabourg’s class made a living connection by having a butterfly hatch on 9/11, linking us to the sacrifices for freedom made by Holocaust victims and by the victims of the attack on The World Trade Center. Students creatively named the butterfly Jill. Their choice was very symbolic with the four letters in the name representing the four planes that were sent out as the terrorists’ means of attack and the double ll’s standing for the twin towers. A special thank you to Mrs. Leeshock for bringing the chrysalis into Mrs. Cabourg’s classroom and educating the students on the amazing life cycle of a butterfly. The butterfly was released and headed toward Mexico
where she will continue her journey.