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School
honored for fighting bigotry
WSN Network
HIGHTSTOWN: The
state Commission on Holocaust Education commended
Hightstown
High
School
last week for its fight against bigotry despite incidents earlier
this year in which a Sikh student's headpiece was set afire and
swastikas were scrawled on school property and a public fountain.
Executive
director Paul B. Winkler said the commission met in Hightstown on
Tuesday to acknowledge the school district's effort to teach respect
for others in a diverse community, despite the fire-setting incident
in May and the swastika incident in January.
More swastikas
followed in September, appearing at
Walter C. Black
Elementary School on the first day of school and inside the high
school two weeks later.
"You are only
responsible for what you do. You are not responsible for the
behavior of others," Winkler told Hightstown Superintendent Ronald
Bolandi during the meeting. "Not only did you stand up to bigotry
and hatred, but you didn't hide your heads in the sand or claim that
it didn't happen. I'm most pleased with the (district's) overall
program on bias and intolerance."
Winkler said
both incidents were immediately reported to the police and the
Anti-Defamation League.
In the turban
incident, a student, Garrett Green, 18, was charged with arson and
criminal mischief. He was barred from attending high school and
prohibited from marching at his graduation. His case remains pending
in the courts.
One example of
the district's efforts was that students interviewed Holocaust
survivors through the Adopt-a-Survivor program. It was a chance to
learn history first-hand from witnesses instead of a book.
10 December
2008
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