On the week of January 23, 2023, Varnett staff and students honored the 6 million Jewish victims who lost their lives in what is known as The Holocaust. Among the victims were 1.5 million children.
With the passage of Senate Bill 1828 in the fall of 2019, the Texas legislature officially created an annual Holocaust Remembrance Week in public schools. This week was created to “educate students about the Holocaust and inspire in students a sense of responsibility to recognize and uphold human value and to prevent future atrocities.”
Starting as a way to educate school children about the Holocaust, The Butterfly Project has swelled into a global phenomenon, collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies from across the world. Inspired by the poem "The Butterfly" by Pavel Friedmann, a young Czech who wrote while in the Terezin Concentration Camp, the Project was a tribute to the lives of the young people lost in the Holocaust.
The Butterfly Project illustrates how our small actions today can become something so much bigger. It shows how individual action can change people's hearts and, with that, the future.
Last week, Varnett students were asked to learn more about the Butterfly Project by viewing this video. After the viewing, they were asked to complete an assignment by grade level.
PreK
Color/decorate a butterfly in remembrance of the 1.5 million children lost during the Holocaust.
1st -3rd Grade
Teachers were asked to read The Butterfly poem with their class and have students reflect on the words by considering the following questions:
- Who do you think wrote this poem?
- What experiences do you think generated this poem?
- To what is the poem referring?
- How does this poem make you feel?
Then they were asked to complete a butterfly in remembrance of those lost during the Holocaust.
Thank you to all who participated.