News and Events: Winter 2020

January 20, 2020

MLK Day - On January 20th, the Coalition participated in, as one of its masthead Sponsors, the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Event, held at Beth David. The event’s theme, Communities Together, attracted several hundred attendees. Its highlight was the MLK Family Radio Hour, playing an actual recording of Dr. King’s famous “The Three Evil’s” speech, interspersed with musical interludes provided by LaTonya Fuhring.

January 29, 2020

On January 29th and 30th, Rita Lurie, Holocaust survivor, and her daughter, Leslie Gilbert-Lurie, shared their story of survival (eerily similar to that of Anne Frank) with all of the 8th graders at Lucia Mar school district. They donated 290 copies of their memoir to the 3 middle schools to supplement the teachers' Holocaust unit for years to come!

Rita Lurie and Leslie Gilbert-Lurie at Mesa Middle School

Paulding Middle School

Judkins Middle School

March 10th & 11th, 2020

On March 10 and 11 we brought two additional speakers to the middle schools of Lucia Mar and San Luis Coastal school districts. Hendrika DeVries extended the teachers' 8th grade Holocaust unit, telling her story of life in Nazi-occupied Holland during WWII, where her mother joined the Dutch resistance and hid a Jewish girl in their home. Joseph Jok spoke to the 7th graders about his idyllic life in Sudan, which was shattered when civil war broke out, causing him to flee for his life. Shortly after their presentations the schools were closed due to the pandemic, so our planned May speakers (two refugees from Burundi) had to be cancelled. We're hoping to resume this speaker program next school year.

Hendrika DeVries speaking to 8th graders

Right to left: Hendrika DeVries, Kathy Minck, and Joseph Jok

Joseph Jok speaking to 7th graders