Lisa Goochee, Communications & Outreach

Our 8th-grade students studied themes of hope, resilience, and art through the Terezín Project this winter with teachers Marcella, Alexandra, and Art Specialist Ayla. Terezín was a place where many artists and cultural figures where imprisoned during The Holocaust. These artists taught lessons to children in secret, and many of these artworks survived the war. This project focused on not only the experiences of children in this concentration camp, but on critical analysis of propaganda. It culminated in a gallery display in honor of these children.

Pictured here are some artworks from that classroom display. Peninsula students took a poem from the book I Never Saw Another Butterfly: Children's Drawings and Poems from Terezín Concentration Camp, 1942–1944 and made a piece of art representing the poem. In this process, students explored their visual vocabulary, working to translate words and meaning to image.

Art Specialist Ayla shares, "How do people survive? By living the way they can. Kids in Terezín organized themselves to have a life, a life with art." Thank you teachers for finding unique ways to teach necessary lessons, honoring primary accounts of history, and reminding children of their innate resilience.