For students in Jennifer Baechle’s Cedar Crest Academy class, just learning facts about the Holocaust during World War II wasn’t enough.
They wanted to do something about it.
A trip to the Holocaust Memorial Center and documentaries about memorial projects gave them an idea ? collect paperclips to represent the huge number of people killed during the Holocaust.
‘There were a lot of paperclips on display,? said fifth-grader Sofia Mourouvapin. ‘The Rabbi said they represent lives lost in the Holocaust.?
‘It inspired us to collect paperclips,? said fifth-grader Nathan Weinreich. ‘Each life is important. That’s why we decided to do this.?
Their goal is to collect six million paperclips, one for each Jewish person killed in the Holocaust, as well as five million more for others killed by the Nazis.
‘At the Holocaust Memorial Center, we realized it starts with us ? we can make a difference,? said classmate Logan Hamilton. ‘It’s something that can happen today. It starts with bullying and can turn into a massacre.?
They collected 1,508,375 paperclips so far.
‘They came up with the idea after watching the documentary,? said Baechle, fifth grade Language Arts teacher. ‘They wrote a letter to the Rabbi (at the Holocaust center), asking if we collected paperclips, would he accept them. He said he was very interested.?
The paperclips will be included in a children’s center planned at the Memorial Center, to help educate children ages 10 and under about the events of the Holocaust, she said.
Students spent about 90 minutes each Friday since Oct. 24 counting paperclips. Sealed boxes of 100 made counting fast and easy. Loose donations were more challenging.
‘We counted them one by one and put them in bags,? said Dillon McMurray. ‘We’re still counting.?
‘It’s great how people donate,? said Sofi Henke. ‘We got way more than I thought we would. I can bury myself in them.?
‘We could fill a swimming pool with them,? said Rachel Deradoorian. ‘I never thought we get this far. I thought maybe we would get 100,000.?
Donations ranged from a few dozen, often accompanied with heartfelt letters in support of the project, to hundreds of thousands from office supply companies. As the weeks went by, sometimes they’d receive few or no paperclips, sometimes hundreds of thousands at a time.
‘Every time the UPS truck pulled up, we’d start screaming,? Deradoorian said.
‘Each paperclip means something, they represent lives ? that moves me,? Nathan Weinreich said. ‘This has gone a lot farther than I expected.?
In addition to the project, the class read the historic-fiction novel “Milkweed,” by Jerry Spinelli.
‘That motivated us,? said Rachel Deradoorian. ‘It explained a lot because he was a guy our age.?
They also watched a movie about an effort by a school in Whitwell, Tenn., to collect 11 million paperclips for display in a boxcar actually used in the Holocaust.
‘They couldn’t visualize six million, so they thought they would collect paperclips,? said Morgan Baylis.
The class watched a slide show about the Holocaust.
‘It was really scary,? said Maya Zonneveld. ‘Survivors told their stories.?
‘I’m really happy but sad,? said Sydney Shandrom. ‘My grandpa and his brother escaped the Holocaust. This paperclip might represent one of my family members.?
Donations are accepted at the academy, 8970 Dixie Highway in Springfield Township. For more information, call 248-625-7270.