The annual middle school Charlie Brown Thanksgiving party is underway. The kids are enjoying the classic feast of toast, popcorn, jelly beans, pretzels and ice cream sundaes. There was a lot of popcorn!
We’re thankful for all these great kids!
Have a great holiday.
Today we headed up to the Museum of Flight to see the planes that were flown in WWI and WWII. Students had a chance to see planes we’ve been reading about. The book Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith came to life as we saw the Curtis JN-4D “Jenny” that the protagonist in the story, Ida Mae learns to fly in.
Students got to see the Link trainer that was featured in the novel and check out the special WASP exhibit (Women Airforce Service Pilots). Seeing images of Jackie Cochran and Nancy Love was very inspiring.
We were thrilled to learn that one of our docents flew in a B-29 from Saipan to Japan on over 35 missions. He tells a story of how his crew “ditched” a plane in the Pacific and were soon rescued. It was an honor to meet him.
And of course, no visit would be complete without a sighting of the Red Baron’s plane and many other amazing aircraft.
After our tour, we broke into groups to see some of the rest of the museum. Make way for Madame President stepping off Air Force One.
We had an amazing visit from Marie-Anne Harkness from the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center. She told about her grandmother, Celine Morali, who was saved over 300 Jewish people in Paris from the Nazis. She would hide them in the basement of her hardware store, give them food, water, a place to clean up and some spending money. When the time was right, she would help sneak them onto a nearby train. Refugees would then ride into unoccupied France for a chance at freedom.
The students loved hearing her story and were transfixed as they listened to her Grandmother’s courage. She stayed strong even after the Gestapo threw her from a moving car when they were looking for her Jewish husband (who was living in unoccupied France). They were able to connect details, like how Marie-Anne’s mother played piano to cover the sounds of people in the basement from the neighbors, to their current studies of WWII.
Marie-Anne shows them the Jewish Star of David that her Grandfather refused to wear. He then hid “in plain sight” by going about his business as if he were not Jewish.
One student shared, ” I just thought it was really interesting to learn about World War II from a relative of somebody from the resistance, as there really weren’t very many people willing to help Jewish people at the time, so it kind of added a whole new perspective on the war that I hadn’t really heard much about before.”
The students gave her talk rave reviews. In the words of one student, “This has been the most engaging talk I’ve heard at this school. Thank you for sharing your story.”
Another student wrote to Marie-Anne and declared. “I am a strong supporter of the suggestion that you should write a book.”
Thanks again Marie-Anne. You helped make history come to life today and your Grandmother and mother’s stories will live on.
We started Halloween with our annual visit to the Spooner Farms Corn Maze. (translation-getting lost while running through a muddy swamp)
We then traversed back to the lower school for the annual Halloween parade, pictures and a class party. It was a very wet, but excellent day!
We still can’t find Waldo.
Seabury Middle School 