download the May 2011 issue (PDF). - Inside Chappaqua

Human Rights Institute For High School Leaders
When Rosa
Parks refused to
yield her seat on
an Alabama Bus,
“she didn't know,”
said Sleepy Hollow
junior Sophie
Parens. The short
role Parks played,
however, helped
change the world.
Such insights could
sum up a large part
of the discussion
of the 10th annual
Human Rights
Institute for High
School Student
Leaders held at
Manhattanville College
on March 16th.
Under the umbrella
of the Holocaust and Human
Rights Education Center, the
Mother’s
Day Gift
Certificates
Available
36 Inside Chappaqua May 2011
By Rich Monetti
At the event (L-R): Donna Cohen HHREC Executive Director; Educator Neil
Ginsberg, Scarsdale High School; Richard A. Berman Award Recipient Erica Getto,
Scarsdale High School; Dr. Marlene Yahalom, HHREC Director of Education
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event grouped students into topical
workshops during which the spark
of change might
emerge. "We're
trying to turn
awareness into
action," said
Croton-Harmon
High School
Social Studies
teacher, Brett
Bowden.
In Sophie
Parens’ group,
women’s rights
in the Middle
East were on
the agenda.
Facilitating the
discussion with
classmates Kyle
McGovern and
Alex Dopico, the
trio was careful
to keep the hope
for change in a
nonjudgmental
tone. “We have
flaws in our
own society,”
said McGovern.
“Blasting the
message from up on
high is also counterproductive,”
he asserted.
“It has to be their fight
so you can avoid looking
like you’re riding in
on a white horse to save
them.”
Looking on and keeping
her interaction limited
as group advisor,
Senior Historian, Mary
Johnson, of Facing
History and Ourselves,
was impressed with the
facilitation skills of the
three lead students.
“Their understanding of
the differences between
our cultures was crucial
because sensitivity is
the first tool we have to
combat prejudice,” she says.
The question of how one individual
can have an impact on human
rights issues was not common to
just this group. “This is a chance
for kids all over the county to see
what other human rights clubs are
doing to inspire them to go back,
brainstorm and start their own
clubs,” says Donna Cohen, Executive
Director of the HHREC.
These future leaders came away
with a host of creative ideas about
how best to consolidate their voices
on Near Eastern women’s rights.
They speculated on the possibility
of creating a cultural exchange
program with Middle Eastern countries
and utilizing the power of
social media. One realization was
very important. “It starts at home,”
Parens said.
The jumping off point to which
Parens alluded was exemplified in
the presentation of an Eastchester
High School student. Jimyang Gyaltsen
grew up in Tibet and escaped
over the Himalayas with his fam-
continued on page 38