Holocaust Activity Removed After Backlash At W.T. Woodson High

FAIRFAX, VA — After facing backlash for a 10th-grade class activity about the Holocaust, a W.T. Woodson High School teacher apologized and said the study unit would not continue. But parents say the Jewish community faces ongoing concerns at the school system.

Allyson Jacob, a Jewish parent, told Patch her child's class had a Holocaust study activity in a class in March 2019. As described by her child, Jacob said the teacher asked groups of students to list Holocaust-related terms for each letter of the alphabet. The teacher would then ask students to call out words.

Her child said the "discomfort" a Jewish student feels in that situation is similar to how Muslim friends feel when 9/11 is discussed.

"If you put yourself in the perspective of a Jewish student and have students call out things … it's uncomfortable, and it shows a complete lack of sensitivity," said Jacob.

Rather than a read-aloud activity, Jacob said she'd prefer if teachers assigned written paragraphs to gauge students' understanding of the Holocaust and plan class activities accordingly.

Another assignment from the teacher asked students to create a scene from Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel's book "Night." Jacob called that approach "tone-deaf" considering the subject matter of Wiesel's book about his experiences in Nazi concentration camps.

This year, the matter came up again when the teacher's students had to complete the ABC Holocaust activity. The teacher addressed the matter in a letter to students, which was then sent out to the W.T. Woodson High School community.

"I apologize for the insensitive nature of the discussion of the genocide of the Jewish community," the teacher wrote. "Please know this was not my intention and I am deeply upset that this assignment caused anyone pain. Please know that I will not continue with this activity."

The ABC Holocaust activity was part of the curriculum centered around Wiesel's book "Night." The teacher noted that staff would meet discuss other activities to teach "Night."

When the activity was done in class two years ago, Jacob went to the principal and her rabbi. The rabbi talked to the principal, who indicated he would talk to the teacher. Jacob thought the matter was resolved, until she recently learned the activity was done again in the teacher's class.

Lucy Caldwell, a spokesperson for Fairfax County Public Schools, clarified that the curriculum was updated last year to remove the ABC Holocaust activity.

"When the principal became aware it had been used this year by one teacher to check prior student knowledge, she sent a letter to the parents of 60 students apologizing for this insensitivity," said Caldwell in an email to Patch. "Teachers spent a great deal of time last year creating new curriculum around new books that represent our students through various diverse perspectives, characters and topics."

"Night" remains on the curriculum since the Woodson student population includes many Jewish individuals, according to Caldwell. In addition, the school has hosted Irene Weiss, an Auschwitz survivor with ties to W.T. Woodson High School, as a guest speaker on numerous occasions.

Caldwell said FCPS has trainings that include discussions on sensitivity around diverse groups.

"Our teachers are very aware of the sensitivity needed to teach Night and other than this one activity and this one teacher, they’ve been successful over the years," Caldwell said. "Our cultural responsiveness modules/trainings have also spoken to sensitivity around diverse groups."

Jacob is hesitant to accept the teacher's letter saying she will no longer use the ABC Holocaust activity since it wasn't the first year concerns were reported about the activity.

"I really want to give the teacher the benefit of the doubt, but I just can't at this point," said Jacob.

Concerns beyond curriculum

Two Jewish parents explained that concerns of Jewish families go beyond the way the Holocaust is taught.

Anna Stolley Persky, a Jewish mother of three FCPS students, said it is difficult to raise Jewish kids in the school system and says they have faced anti-Semitism. A few examples her children observed were Nazi salutes, singing of "Happy Birthday to Hitler" in the cafeteria, anti-Semitic comments to their faces, and some children passing around memes of Jews being gassed and Hitler as Jaws.

"The school system needs to hear the pain of its Jewish families and recognize there is a problem here. Teaching the Holocaust appropriately and consistently, not just in 10th grade, but in younger years, would be a start," Persky said. "But that's just the beginning — Jews need to be viewed through that OneFairfax equity lens."

Another decision that didn't sit well with some Jewish families was the school board's calendar decision. The school board set 15 religious and cultural observances without a day off for students, including the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. During these observances, FCPS cannot schedule tests, quizzes, field trips, graduation, homecoming, or athletic events. A school board motion to add Yom Kippur, Diwali, Eid al-Fitr, and Good Friday as school holidays failed 5-6.

As reported by the Washington Post in February, area faith groups had been pushing for the calendar to observe Jewish, Hindu and Muslim holidays, according to the Washington Post.

"I was saddened that the school board refused to honor the requests of Jewish, Muslim and Hindu families to have their most holy days as days off school for the entire community," said Persky. "It would have been an easy way to demonstrate that the leadership values its non-Christian religious families. It would have [been] an opportunity for the other children to learn about the importance of their diverse community by respecting their holidays as days when school is closed."

Jacob believes the 15 religious and cultural observances are "lip service" and that nothing will change. She points to Montgomery County, Maryland's public schools providing Jewish holidays, while Northern Virginia may have a larger Jewish population.

For Fairfax County Jewish students, they have to choose between being in school for the holiday and taking off while coordinating make-up work.

"There just seems to be a lack of understanding and sensitivity for those who are not the majority," said Jacob. "Everyone deserves to have a voice and everyone deserves to have their experiences respected."