Overview:
Southern Hills students create Holocaust remembrance projects amidst rising antisemitism and a recent hate crime on Pearl Street.
On March 11, seventh-grade students at Southern Hills Middle School transformed their library into a Holocaust remembrance exhibit, inviting families and the community to walk through history and reflect on its relevance today.
“Doing this project was very meaningful,” said seventh-grader Avery Sweeney. “It felt emotional to learn about something so terrible, but it was also fun to create whatever I wanted.”
The annual project at Southern Hills comes at a time of rising concern. Antisemitic incidents have reached record highs nationally, according to the Anti-Defamation League, and follow the June 1 hate crime on Pearl Street that killed a Holocaust survivor, bringing the weight of history closer to home in Boulder.
This year’s event was organized by Cheri Eymer, an English teacher at Southern Hills. It featured a guided walkthrough of the library, leading visitors past student projects, as well as a short violin performance.
“It’s quite beautiful, what they create,” Eymer said.
After reading a book about the Holocaust of their choosing, students were tasked with producing a visual representation of an aspect of the story. Eymer’s rubric was open-ended, so final projects ranged from informational tri-folds to sculptures and models.
Caroline Stella, a seventh grader at Southern Hills, created a model house split in half with pre-Holocaust life on one side and life in the ghetto on the other.
“It’s important for people to learn about what really happened,” Stella said. “And also to be grateful for what they have.”
Lux Leesman, another seventh grader, created a series of letters between two characters from the novel “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.”
“It’s important to learn about this stuff,” said Leesman. “You can really realize how much suffering someone can go through.”
Eymer said she introduced the project after realizing she had not learned about the Holocaust until college. “I don’t want to repeat history,” she said.
By asking students to translate what they’ve read into physical forms, Eymer hopes the lessons stay with them beyond the classroom.
“For a lot of them, it’s their first time learning what humans are able to do to one another,” she said. “Hopefully this will help them to make choices that give us a better future.”
Electric tealight candles lined pathways through the displays, and visitors were encouraged to remain silent. Parents and students alike spoke in hushed tones as they moved through the space.
“I am so impressed by the kids,” said Lauren Stella, a parent in attendance. “Some of these projects are actually really deep.”
School librarian Regina Hoskins helps host the event each year, offering the library as a space for students to fully realize their projects.
“I think this moves the kids,” Hoskins said. “It’s very humbling for them.”
Eymer has seen growing success with this project, as visitor attendance has increased each year. Parents report having deep conversations with their kids at home, according to Eymer.
Despite the heavy subject matter, many projects emphasized resilience. Flowers, butterflies and bright colors appeared throughout the displays, symbolizing survival and renewal.
“It’s not just darkness here,” Eymer said. “There’s a lot of hope.”
That balance between remembering tragedy and recognizing resilience is exactly what Eymer hopes students carry with them beyond the classroom. At a time when antisemitism is rising and the distance from World War II continues to grow, the exhibit is an early lesson in what it means to remember and why that responsibility now belongs to them.
“It’s all about empathy,” Eymer said. “We just want them to care about others in a deeper way.”
