The tenth grade English classes read about the Holocaust this year. The book they read is Night by Elie Wiesel. After they finished the book, students were each assigned a non-fictional character and were able to decorate a paper butterfly cutout to represent their character. One butterfly, by sophomore Holly Ashton, involved her representation of a Holocaust victim with schizophrenia. Students were provided a fact sheet on their character.
Ashton’s butterfly represented how her character died and the voices in her head due to the schizophrenia. There were a few challenging pieces to this project. Ashton tried to draw her butterfly images from the viewpoint of a schizophrenic. Her character’s schizophrenia became worse once her dog died and the illness progressed. Ashton also incorporated a swimming pool into the butterfly because her character liked to swim.
The project reinforced the human side of the Holocaust and its victims. “It helps realize that they were real people and they actually really died,” said Ashton.
-- By A.J. Orsino
