On Monday, Jan. 27, sixth-grade students from Harris Middle School held a memorial service in observance of the state's inaugural Holocaust Remembrance Week. The program featured poetry, music, student exhibits, and guest speaker Sen. José Menéndez. 

In June 2019, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 1828 into law establishing Holocaust Remembrance Week throughout Texas public schools. Menéndez authored this bill, which passed unanimously in the House and Senate Chambers allowing Texas to join 11 other states that require some form of Holocaust education in public schools.

The event at Harris was held on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the first day of the state’s newly established Holocaust Remembrance Week. The memorial service was the culmination of a 25-day Holocaust Remembrance social studies unit, which included a visit to the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. 

Teachers from two SAISD International Baccalaureate Schools – Harris and Longfellow middle schools – developed the supplemental curriculum as the result of a two-year grant over the summer. Longfellow students, who visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio, also are displaying an exhibit in the Longfellow library this week.

The educational programming was made possible by Rene Plessner, through the SAISD Foundation. Plessner is passionate about educating students of all ages about the universal lessons of the Holocaust as a means to create a more humane, just, and peaceful world.