Hear My Story, Be My Voice
recipients: Rosie Sansalone, The Summit Country Day School, Cincinatti, Ohio
date: 2015-2017

After reading Night by Elie Wiesel, Rosie Sansalone’s students put justice into action, taking to heart Wiesel’s message that “every name has a story.” This idea becomes the premise for a class project that gives restorative justice to those who have a story to tell, allowing them to heal their souls. Students gather stories through personal interviews, enabling them to put a name and face to the struggle. They publish the stories with a photograph in a class book called Hear My Story; Be My Voice.

Students dedicated their 2016 book to Werner Coppel, the Holocaust survivor who first inspired the project. In his last public appearance, he met with Rosie’s students before their trip to Washington, D.C. He passed away in February 2016, and his son Steve attended the project celebration in June to address the class in his father’s name.

 

In 2017, 60 members of the community participated. A copy of the book is on file at the Memorial Library, and a video of the event can be found online here. An op-ed piece on the importance of Holocaust education written by Ms. Sansalone is available at this link.