Embedded Files
“We gratefully acknowledge the Native Peoples on whose ancestral homelands we gather, as well as the diverse and vibrant Native communities who make their home here today.”
“We gratefully acknowledge the Native Peoples on whose ancestral homelands we gather, as well as the diverse and vibrant Native communities who make their home here today.”
Model/guidance provided by the National Museum of the American Indian
On April 25th, District 113 will be holding an event to commemorate the lives of those lost to genocide, those who survived, upstanders, and rescuers.
On April 25th, District 113 will be holding an event to commemorate the lives of those lost to genocide, those who survived, upstanders, and rescuers.
Genocide Commemoration Day was created by a student, Andrew Devedjian (DHS Class of 2017), in conjunction with the Social Studies Department to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in 2015. Since then, we created a student committee to plan yearly events honoring the memory of victims and survivors of genocides and providing education about genocide, mass atrocities and hate crimes in all their forms, past and present. The day includes live and live-streamed speakers, displays that commemorate victims, survivors and upstanders, actions people can take to combat hate, and other interactive items to engage students and adults. Although the event is closed to the public, we invite the District 113 community to explore this website and to join us for the live-streamed speaker sessions on the District 113 YouTube channel - please access the individual links on the Schedule page of this website.
Special thanks to the District 113 Foundation and the Deerfield High School PTO for the generous grants they have provided to support this special day. Thanks to district and building level administrators, teachers and other staff members for their support and technical assistance in preparing the event.
Archive of Past Genocide Commemoration Days
Archive of Past Genocide Commemoration Days
2021 was the first district-wide GCD. See the promo video to the right and visit https://www.historyunfolding.org/ for all the details. Click here to access an archive of as much of that website as we could migrate to this new site.
In 2020, the Covid pandemic forced us to cancel the event.
In 2019, our students heard from two Holocaust survivors, Ginger Lane and Kurt Gutfreund. And to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Rwanda Genocide, students also engaged in a research project on how US newspapers covered the unfolding genocide, which we presented on the website: https://dhsuncovershistory.wixsite.com/rwanda.
Our 2018 event was featured in an article by Steve Sadin in The Pioneer Press. Our speakers were Rwanda Genocide survivor Claire Mukundente and Holocaust survivor Steen Metz. Displays included a focus on Rohingya refugees. We were joined by several elected officials, including Rep. Brad Schneider, Sen. Julie Morrison and Rep. Scott Drury. We also received a letter from Sen. Tammy Duckworth.
In 2017, we featured Holocaust Survivor Estelle Laughlin and we participated in the USHMM's History Unfolded project. See details in this press release on the event.
In 2016, Andrew Devedjian took an independent study course at DHS titled Genocide 101. The culminating project was the creation of the 2016 GCD program, which included a short film he created called "Injustice," speakers on the Holodomor (starvation genocide) in Ukraine, and other sessions.
2021 GCD promo video
Devedjian film "Injustice" - warning of disturbing images
Injustice.mp4Page updated
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