A Story That Changes Lives

By Jessie Chandler>

Last Friday, we were honored to have Holocaust survivor Dr. Maurice Vanderpol speak to us. The 88-year-old doctor told us that his way of coping with his own memories of the Holocaust is by speaking about them to young people. He was only 17 when he was separated from his family and went into hiding. It is hard to believe that he was only a year older than we are now when he was separated from his extended family, never knowing if he would see them again. As his quiet voice described the memories that remained, the class grew silent. We sat in our seats listening to his every word and felt as if we were there with him during his time of hiding. For the past few weeks, we have been learning about the Holocaust, yet regardless of how many stories we’ve read, pictures we have seen, power points we have watched, not one touched us as much as Dr. Vanderpol did as he stood before us reminiscing about his struggle through the Holocaust. Although his presentation was only 60 minutes long, nothing else could compare or sum up what we witnessed last Friday. It was a life-changing experience that all of us are extremely grateful for.

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Grateful

By Rafael Maciel>

Last week Dr. Vanderpol came to talk to our class. He told us how he was hidden during the Holocaust. His story showed how scary it must have been to be Jewish during World War II. Although he was safe for most of the time and was never brought to a concentration camp, his story was still inspiring. Most of the time when we learn about the Holocaust we just hear facts. It was good to hear from someone who was actually there — someone who had experienced what it was like to be Jewish in a Nazi-occupied country. I really can’t imagine myself in hiding for years. I don’t think I would be able to handle being stuck in a house constantly worrying about being caught. I am very happy that he was able to survive while so many others did not. Dr. Vanderpol seemed like a great man and I am grateful that he took the time to come and talk to us.

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A Priceless Friend

By Livia Sampaio>

When Dr. Vanderpol came into our school to tell us a little bit of what he went though during the Holocaust, I already knew some information about the Holocaust, but it was really sad hearing from a person who actually went through it. When World War II began, he was only 17 and was in school to become a doctor. All of a sudden, the Germans invaded Holland and he got put out of school. No more Jews were allowed to be in school. After a couple of years, things got even worse. The Germans were really out to get the Jews, so Dr. Vanderpol had to go into hiding in a small apartment with a bunch of other people. Imagine being locked up in a small apartment with other people, not having enough food and not knowing what is going on outside and not even knowing what the next day will bring you. He was like an animal locked up in a cage, always afraid. At that time, forgers were the people who saved more lives than anyone else, and Dr. Vanderpol was lucky enough to have a friend who was not a Jew and who gave his ID card to him so he could forge a copy of it. That was one of the things that saved his life. Having a friend who risks their own life to help save you is a priceless gift.

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The Hidden Story

By Madison Hughes>

Dr. Vanderpol came in last Friday and talked to my class about his experience during the Holocaust. It was a very touching story about what he went though. He was not in a concentration camp, but he was put into hiding at the age of 17, which maybe was not so physically hard, but it was mentally a very hard thing for him. He had to change his identity and be separated from his family. He told us he walked around the streets with a forged identity card and was stopped by the Germans. “We did some crazy things that were very scary,” he said.

Imagine how scary it would be knowing that at any time you could be busted and lose your life completely right there. Dr. Vanderpol had to be a very brave man to be put into hiding and understanding what the punishment would be if he was ever caught. I have so much sympathy for anyone who was even around during the Holocaust. I believe it was one of the hardest times ever. I can’t even imagine how horrible it was.

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Racism

By Carlos Guzman>

Racism is a big problem in our world, and in many places people are picked on and treated badly for their race. In our classes we learned about the Nazis and how they wanted to kill all the Jews in the world. That was probably the cruelest and most racist thing that ever happened. Today, we look back and say wow, and can’t find words to describe it.  I think we should all work to end racism in this world.

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Go Green

By Courtney Mussell

In order to save the world and help our environment, everyone needs to pitch in and do what they can to assist our planet. If everyone does what they can to make our earth a better place, life will be a lot easier. There are many organizations in the United States that are encouraging the world to “go green.” We recently had a speaker talk to us about this, and now there are students at our school who are trying to start a club to help our Island to become green. Even if only the elementary schools had after-school clubs that taught our kids about what going green means, they could make a big change. Anybody can try to make a change, and anything would make a difference.

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We Are the Future

By Shelby Ferry>

Life is always something to look forward to. We think about where we want to go in life, but what is really important to get to that stage in your life? No one ever thinks about what they can do to make sure our earth doesn’t die in the next few hundred years because that is where we are headed unless we change our ways soon. Some ways that we can help the future of the earth include finding a better alternative to plastic products, replacing gas and oil with renewable energy and stop using water bottles. Living in America, we often don’t realize how lucky we are because there are people around the world who don’t even have the luxury of having water every day. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is causing so much damage and affecting millions of people, animals, fish and birds. This is why we have to find a way to do without oil because it is just bad all around for our earth. It is my generation’s responsibility to change our ways so that our great-grandchildren can have a safe and healthy life. We are the future of our planet.