Citizenship Spotlight: RCDS Students Participate in the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center's Human Rights Institute for Middle School Student Leaders

Eight seventh graders participated in the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center's Human Rights Institute for Middle School Student Leaders, an annual event whose purpose "has been to promote student awareness of human rights and to empower students to become upstanders." The day-long Institute focused on leadership development centered around modeling and celebrating upstander behaviors and facilitating discussion about what it means to have respect for all. Students were captivated by the keynote speaker, Storyteller and Historical Character Interpreter Sheila Arnold, who shared a narrative about characters based on a composite of women in late 18th-century Williamsburg, VA. The students then met in breakout groups with students from 10 other Westchester schools to participate in activities and conversations related to the themes of respecting the individual and learning to be an upstander.