Wall HS dual credit students win international competition with memorial to Holocaust survivor
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — A group of 20 Wall High School seniors recently won an international competition with a thick black coat that symbolizes the important figures, trials and tribulations of a Holocaust survivor through articulately designed, handmade patches.
Elizabeth SoRelle’s dual credit British Literature students won the Yad Vashem “Who’s Your Hero? Stories from the Holocaust” project against 115 projects submitted from across the globe that reflected on Jewish heroes from the Holocaust.
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The two classes read “A Daughter of Many Mothers: Her Horrific Childhood and Wonderful Life,” a story of a young girl’s life amid the Holocaust, written by the young girl herself, Rena Quint.
“After Mrs. SoRelle told us about the project and told us to start brainstorming. A couple of our classmates, Parker Schwartz, Haley, Tristan and Lily, kind of all at the same time, came up with the idea to do the coat,” said Jonah Felger. Haley Little explained that one of Quint’s ‘mothers’ gave her a jacket during a snowy time in the Holocaust, thus bringing the idea of displaying their project on a coat.
The group decided to organize the patches on the jacket based on the events of Quint’s life in chronological order after creating a spreadsheet with their ideas. From patches of food that Quint ate to a black and white picture that represents a photograph of her family that was taken from her, these seniors took time to carefully select each item that would symbolize Quint’s ‘mothers’ and her journey.
“Each one of those patches on the coat represents something that the mother did for her or the mother themselves,” Felger said.
After being taken away from her parents in the Holocaust at six, different people played a ‘mother’ part or acted as a motherly figure in Quint’s life, explained Fleger. The students took the time to carefully stitch Quint’s definition of mother on the back of the black coat along with the names of individuals who carried this role in her life.
While 18 students developed and mastered their sewing skills, two other students wrote a paper that dove into the representation of Quint’s life and mothers that they created. This entire process, from the rough draft to the final product, took these 20 seniors three months.
Amid conflict happening around the world, Avery Jameson reflected on what this project meant to her.
“The political climate definitely has a big impact on this project and how I feel about it personally,” she said.
“There are heroes out there and it’ll happen for a reason and this is something we need to remember and reflect on cause it does feel like history is trying to repeat itself,” Jameson continued.
“This is really personal to them,” said SoRelle. “They all know her story and are all, you know, emotionally really connected to it. So I think for me, as a teacher, the bigger connection is that this affects people right now.”
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Despite reading and learning more about the trials and tribulations of their hero, Quint, and watching what takes place around the world, this project will always be something they carry with them.
“I think the thing that I think about more is that I need to be thankful for the things I have in my life instead of taking advantage of the small things like getting to go to my own bed at night or being able to have clothes on my back every day,” Felger said as the other students nodded along in agreement.
“Rena’s story is so unique because she is someone who held onto her faith,” said Jameson. “But to meet somebody who went through something so imaginable who is so hopeful and so joyful, so full of life, it was extremely inspiring.”
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