Rosary junior spreads message of tolerance and acceptance
Using the story of teacher Erin Gruwell as her motivation, Rosary High School junior Mariah Rettenmeier was able to put into words how she feels love and tolerance can overcome hatred.
Gruwell was made famous two years ago by the "Freedom Writers" book and movie for her efforts in curbing violence and hatred at her Los Angeles area high school by first teaching them about Anne Frank and her diary during the Holocaust and then convincing students to keep their own diaries and journals as a way to begin understanding each other.
It fueled Rettenmeier's first-place finish in the Gershanov Family Memorial Holocaust Essay Contest, which she learned about through a World History teacher at Rosary. Rettenmeier was awarded a $2,000 savings bond for her first place honor last weekend at the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie, standing out among hundreds of students in the state who entered.
"The Freedom Writers really made me think a lot about what I wanted to say and it really inspired me," said Rettenmeier, an Aurora resident. "I used some of that, some of my own ideas and some other quotes I had heard in the past."
The biennial essay contest offers high school students the opportunity to reflect on the Holocaust and pen an essay with the theme "Never Again."
Rettenmeier said despite historical accounts of ghastly crimes, the Holocaust wasn't the end of such atrocities.
"We had genocide in Rwanda and it is still happening in parts of the world," she said.
Rettenmeier said her essay pushed the notion that if she can show love and tolerance and accept other people, others can do it as well.
"It's like a ripple effect," she said. "It starts with me and carries on to others."
Arrest is a start: A few weeks ago, St. Charles Schools Superintendent Don Schlomann declared he was sick of the vague threats of violence being spray-painted or written on school property. It echoed feelings shared throughout the community, and I figured it will eventually stop when someone is caught and suspended, fined or even thrown in jail. That arrest was made last week and we'll see how it plays out in curbing some of this craziness.
The district was asking parents to help, mostly in assuring their kids don't let rivalries between schools get out of hand. I'm not a social worker, a psychiatrist or a cop. But it sure seems likely the last persons these vandals are communicating with are their parents, and vice versa.
But all is not lost. It's possible better communication -- and a reward for a tip leading to an arrest -- was a key in helping police make an arrest.
If we collectively start to mend unhealthy relationships between some parents and their kids, solutions will follow.
Save some power: We definitely like to be comfortable in our church, but here's an idea for conserving power this summer.
Our churches should cut back on the air conditioning a bit. We don't have to freeze during services just because it's warm outside. Comfortable, not cold, would be the key.
dheun@sbcglobal.net