By Bonnie Adams, Government Editor
Westborough – Caroline Graham admits that she had no real expectations in mind when she signed up to take the course, “Facing History and Ourselves,” in her senior year at Westborough High School (WHS).
“I didn's think it would change me, but it did,” she said. “It makes us more aware and teaches that no one is better than anyone else.”
That was the consensus of a group of students and parents who gathered at the home of the Bryant family Feb. 15 to discuss the impact of the Facing History course.
The course is based on curriculum established by the nonprofit Brookline based group of the same name. Its mission is to teach ways to combat racism, prejudice and anti-Semitism. As part of that objective, it trains teachers in course work such as the one being taught at WHS.
In Westborough, there are actually three parts of the Facing History program – the class started and still taught at WHS by Gregory Gallagher; the parents” fundraising foundation, Westborough Friends of Facing History and Ourselves; and a Facing History student group at WHS.
Gallagher said in teaching the course, he uses films and discussion groups to study past historical events such as the Holocaust. The goal, he said, is to teach students about themselves and how the choices they make or do not make can impact themselves and also the world around them.
“They and I go on a journey together where they learn about themselves and what kind of people they are,” he said. “We use critical thinking skills to evaluate events and how they would have reacted. This class puts them on the streets of 1939 Nazi Germany. They have a moral and intelligent place to understand the horror of the Holocaust.”
But, he stressed, Facing History is not just a Jewish class or a class about the Holocaust. It is only one aspect; last year the foundation sponsored a visit by a survivor of the Rwandan genocide and this year will sponsor a talk by one of the Little Rock Nine.
Several students shared their thoughts at the Feb. 15 meeting on how the course has changed the way they perceive the world.
Max Bloch, a senior who is the president of the student group, noted how he, as a young Jewish man, was aware of the Holocaust. He had visited Israel twice, he said, and has also been to several Holocaust museums. But it was what he learned in the class that allowed him to really process that knowledge when he went on a trip with his father to Poland and visited a former Nazi concentration camp in what was during WWII, occupied Poland.
“We learn so much about ourselves [in the class] and how we would react in a situation,” he added. “It really carries through to your everyday life.”
His classmate Brian Doran agreed.
“This class is all about personal reflection,” he said. “There are four words that are repeated over and over – “bystander, perpetrator, resistance and victim.””
“The main thing is if you want to stop something from happening, like bullying, you just can's ignore it,” he added.
Currently the school offers two sessions of the class twice a year. Gallagher said this past year, 200 students had wanted to participate; only 80 were able to do so. It is his wish, he said, that in the near future, every student who wants to take the class will be able participate.
“The testimony of the students [who have taken the class] is that this is meaningful,” he added. “In Hudson, where every student takes it in their freshmen year, it has changed the atmosphere of the school there.”
Prior to her being elected as president of the parents” foundation, Sondra Bloch (Max's mother) took a Facing History course at the organization's headquarters in Brookline. It was a decision that tremendously impacted her life as a parent and a citizen, she said.
“It really teaches you about being a good adult and that by making more humane and compassionate choices, you can change the world,” she said.
“Our mission is to bring speakers to Westborough, train more teachers and offer scholarships to students who have taken the course. We want to make sure the course lives forever and is expanded,” she added.
For more information, go to www.westborough-facinghistory.com