SHS Students to Examine the Refugee Crisis During Exchange Trip to Heidelberg

Six Scarsdale High School students will travel to Heidelberg, Germany, to team up with six students from the Elisabeth von Thadden Schule in February 2017. Together, the German and American students will examine issues surrounding refugees in the past and present and develop ways to contribute positively to the effort to reduce the painful effects of relocation.

The exchange program is offered by the SHS Social Studies Department and led by Maggie Favretti, with the goal of bringing young people together to strategize about an important humanitarian issue.

The program has a unique historical context because during World WarII, the founder of the Heidelberg school refused to follow the Nazi program and was executed at Ravensbruck. After the war, the school was reopened in her name in the interest of humanitarian principles. By 1950, the school held a semester-long exchange with Israel (which they still do), and have since added several other exchanges to examine key social issues.

Since Heidelberg is not only a spectacularly beautiful intact medieval city in a lovely and historic region but is also the center for refugee resettlement in southern Germany, it is a perfect place to visit and stay. Students on last year's exchange met a young Iraqi refugee who attends the school and this year, students will meet his brother, too. Their story compelled Scarsdale students to want to do much more. They furthered their efforts by conferring with Holocaust survivors and refugees from the USSR, visiting a synagogue and a mosque, and visiting with people who are in charge of humanitarian outreach in the resettlement camp in the old US Army base.

They also travelled to historic cities, such as Speyer, home of the Shapiro (originally same word) family who now has descendants in Scarsdale. Following the trip, Scarsdale students will host their German friends in mid-March. Last year they toured New York City, met with humanitarian leaders in Bay Ridge, spoke with Holocaust refugees, visited a Harlem neighborhood and met with jazz drummer Phil Young for an "up-close and personal tour."

Together the two groups of students created Students for Refugees, a bi-continental club dedicated to helping to inform young people about the refugee crisis and effective ways to offer direct and indirect help. This year, the club is adding to its membership, and its repertoire of activities. The information meeting about the 2017 Germany/Heidelberg Exchange is Wednesday October 19th, 7th period in room 2N5. For more information, email Maggie Favretti at [email protected].