Irene, I am excited to see you in Traverse City in a month!
The positive impact club (which was inspired by a spark you ignited) is called TIGERS Unite and had 60 students attend our first/introductory meeting! The students already had some excellent ideas to spread kindness and accepted their first challenge of giving somebody a compliment everyday. Two students came up with a word of kindness wall with positive quotes and messages. I was so overwhelmed with the interest and contagion of these small acts of kindness.
I am starting the Holocaust unit for our seventh graders. I was wondering if you would be available to face-time or Skype with my classes sometime? I know that they would love to ask you questions and we did not have that opportunity with the whole school assembly. These students heard you speak last year and with the introduction to the unit started discussing your presentation. 💕
You have made a tremendous impact on the students of Allegan. LE White students have accepted your challenge to spread kindness and are promoting tolerance!!
> On Sep 21, 2016, at 9:52 PM, irene miller <nomanslandmiller@gmail.com> wrote:
>
Irene
Beal City
Dear Friends
At one of my talks at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills in the audience was K and her 16-year old son, Jordan.
After my talk K stopped in the Museum Shop and bought my book "Into No Man’s Land: A Historical Memoir".
A few days later I received a long email from K. (On the back of my book I provide an email address where I can be contacted.) After reading my book K was so moved that she wanted to tell me about her life. I was deeply touched that I, a total stranger was the recipient of this painful personal story of an abused deeply injured child. Fortunately a responsible and caring relative, whom she now addresses as father, saved K out of the miserable situation she was in when she was 14. Now a teacher in a school for incarcerated teens, K feels that she was cut out for this work, and finds enormous satisfaction being able to help children whose lives she understands well. I have observed many indications that she is a wonderful, caring teacher.
"Hearing you would be so great for my student and mean so much to them, but they are not allowed to leave the premises." K wrote me.
"I will come and talk to your students." I answered.
"And when Jordan told his teachers about your talk, they wished so much they could have heard you.” came in the next email.
"K, I will come to Jordan's high school. By the way what is the address and how far are you from the Holocaust Center?"
"I live in Beal City, about three, three and half hours’ drive"
Where is Beal City? I thought, and mentioned the conversation to my friend Harriet. In no time Harriet got back to me: "Right in the center of Michigan, 2000 census lists population 345.Their high school was identified by a national survey (I don't' remember which) in 2010 as one of the top schools in the nation." Looking it up on the map it appears as if Beal is the belly button of Michigan, right in the center. Population, now I was told, around 1,000.
"Oh! K, that is a problem. After about 80 to 100 miles driving my back problem kicks in and am very uncomfortable."
“I will come and pick you up."
"I will be glad to come and meet your community"
"I have never hosted anyone but will try to do my best"
This gal who felt unsure of hosting me, turned out to be a little fireball rolling in all directions and igniting flames.
In preparation for my visit the students discussed discrimination and prejudice, listened to movies on this topic, including "The Paper Clip" documentary, which describes how a school in Tennessee decided to collect six- million paper clips to commemorate the children killed in the Holocaust. I was pleased to see that this became an opportunity to broaden the subject to social and political issues with many questions waiting for my response. I was getting emails from K.
"Everyone is so excited, what an honor it will be for us to have you here telling your life story.
The kids are talking in the hallway about your visit etc." It was a crescendo building up and up.
On December 12th K spent the evening with me in West Bloomfield and at 8 am the next morning we took off for Beal City. The long ride was an opportunity for me to hear a lot of stories about K and her community.
Beal City (I wonder why they call it a city) is a sprawling community of farmers. The main road has the only grocery store in town and it welcomes us with the sign you see in the picture. I think they ran out of "L's", but the intention was good. The school seemed the only building of red bricks and lovely.
Every teacher, every staff person I met welcomed me with warmth and open arms. The Principal walked in the stuff room to introduce himself. The teachers prepared a potluck lunch, which they do for special occasions.
At about 1:15 grades 7 through 12 were dismissed and gathered in the gymnasium. 300 students tightly packed on the benches were facing me. It was an impressive audience looking very attentive and anticipatory. Some had to sit on the floor. All teachers, the principal and the superintendent were present. "The Morning Sun" newspaper photographer introduced himself and asked me some questions. Thereafter the reporter did the same. Jordan felt honored that he was selected to introduce me.
Cameras set up! I was ready to talk with a microphone in hand. I talked for over an hour, not just about my life, but about the moral lessons we can learn from the Holocaust; about the price of hate and prejudice; about seeing injustice and being a passive bystander; about the Jewish principle of "Tikkun Olam" (repairing the world), that each of us has a responsibility in whatever small way we can to help make the world a better place for all. I told them how I apply this principle in my life. The students asked many thoughtful questions. I was asked why I wanted to write my book. I said that it is important for all to know what historically took place, what horrors can happen. History repeats itself and unless we understand what and how it happened we are not equipped to prevent other atrocities from taking place. Horrors do not occur all at once. They start with milder versions of injustice and by increment they become monsters. "You young people are the future leaders of this nation and maybe of the world. It is up to you to be on guard to prevent future atrocities." I told them. The questions went on for a long time until the children had to be dismissed.
A teacher commented, "They were so attentive, you could hear a pin drop." But in contrast to the silence there was very loud applause. Many students lined up to get my book, which I signed, and to take pictures with me.
The reporter asked me, "How many hugs did you get?”
"How many students were here?" I questioned.
"300"
"I must have hugged 299 plus a few teachers."
I choked up at some points during my talk, but held back tears. But when Mr. House, the history teacher came over to thank me, to express gratitude and handed me a wooden plaque with an inscription "In Honor of Irene Miller for her Dedication and Strength in sharing her story with Beal City High School" I could not hold my tears back. He also presented me with a blue cuddly blanket with the insignia of the high school. I was told that in my honor the school will plant a tree in the spring, which will be called the "Tolerance Tree", and the students will be taught why and how the tree came to be. I was extremely moved.
After a while K and I drove to her warm and welcoming home built by her husband.
In the evening K and I were at another potluck, a dinner at the "Bed and Breakfast" where I was housed for the night. The owner is a member of a book club group that was invited for the dinner and a discussion of my book, which some bought on Amazon.
I met a group of intelligent, interested women, warm and open for discussions.
By the time the evening was over I had to decompress and get ready for the following day of activity.
On the 14th at 7:30 am, K came to pick me up with a few copies of the “Morning Sun” in hand. On the front page was an article of the event the day before with two photos of me.
After a light breakfast on the way, we drove to K’s work place, Muskegon River Youth Homes, a place for incarcerated teenagers. Some are under strict security restrictions, housed in separate small buildings. All the teachers and the staff showed gratitude and appreciation for my willingness to come to talk to the residents of the Youth Home. The cameras and the projectors were ready by the time we got in. For security reasons many of the youth were not allowed to leave their classrooms to come and hear me, but in each of their rooms they were able to see and hear me through internet technology called “Adobe Connect”.
There were about 50 teenagers in the room where I spoke. Many of them in what I would call jail uniforms in orange and purple. The floor was marked with a yellow tape showing the point beyond which they were not allowed to cross-- the area where I was standing. I had absolutely no feeling of discomfort. I started my talk by stressing that I know what pain and sufferings are, that I respect every human being and respect them. Whatever brought them to this place does not imply that they are not good people and cannot have a wonderful future. “If I, with the difficult life, I will tell you about, could achieve what I did, than definitely you can." I told them about my life and stressed again the potential in them to create a healthy wholesome future. Like in the school the day before the were very attentive and listened intensely.
They asked many questions, intelligent questions. I crossed the dividing line and mingled among them answering the questions. By the time I left them I hugged each and they all thanked me for coming to talk to them. In the room with me were the teachers and some other staff including the co-owner of the home.
Again I was deeply touched when the Assistant Superintendent handed me a beautiful gift: a lovely wooden case with a pen and pencil set. On one side engraved were the words:
"Thank you for sharing your story with us. Muskegon River Youth Home Teachers and Students 2012".
On the other side: "Tolerance is the act of accepting and acknowledging people's differences. For humanity to be successful we must embrace diversity and demonstrate patience for all religious, political and social beliefs so that we can live in harmony"
This is the definition of tolerance that K worked on with her students and they came up with it. I was told that the students in the woodwork shop will create a bench for visitors in my honor, and this inscription will be on it. Unable to give me a bench they made a shelf and signed their names on it.
There are a few other schools for adjudicated and court placed youth that are serviced by the same school district, and they all heard me through the electronic set up.
Here again I was interviewed by a local newspaper which I am told wrote a wonderful article about the event. (I am waiting to receive the paper.) K asked whether I would mind visiting each of the rooms of teens not allowed into the initial room. I gladly went and she instructed me with which group I should not even shake hands. In each room I kept stressing the idea of the potential in each for goodness. "Help the good in you to come out and grow."
One boy asked "And what if there is nothing good in me, if there is nothing good in me to find?"
"Did you ever see a baby born mean? You were the baby with all the good potential; it is still there; you might have to dig deeper to find it, but it is there.” In each group there were questions and good exchanges. Again we enjoyed a potluck lunch prepared by teachers. I left feeling overwhelmed by the gratitude, appreciation and affection displayed to me wherever I went. I was told by students and teachers that they would never forget me and the event and what it meant for them. I as well will not forget it. I was enriched by the ability to touch so many lives, and by being touched by them.
(Note: Whatever I wrote about Kathleen and her family comes with her approval.)
IRENE
