Six Chautauqua County High Schoolers win Holocaust Writing Awards

On May 15, 60 students from Chautauqua County High School and their families gathered with leaders of the Hebrew Congregation of Chautauqua in the parlor of the Athenaeum Hotel at the Chautauqua Institution for a very unique awards ceremony. The ceremony centered around Holocaust Writing Awards created by the Katz and Hirshberg families for high school students in Chautauqua County who had studied the Holocaust. The essay criteria included a length of less than 1,000 words and answered this question: How does your knowledge of the Holocaust offer insight into the world today? Most of the respondents had previously been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC on a trip sponsored by the Hebrew Congregation of Chautauqua.

Len and Judy Katz joined Jeff and Shelley Hirshberg to distribute the awards, given in honor of Leigh-Anne Hendrick, the iconic teacher at Chautauqua Lake Central School who is the director of the Holocaust and Social Justice Education Program, and has worked in many ways to make the program a success.

Thirty-six (36) essays were received from five different school districts. Six winners were selected; six essays for six million Jews lost in the Holocaust. Each student received a plaque, check, writing journal and the book: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. The top three winners read their essays. With the success of this first year, the Writing Awards will be offered again next year and beyond.