Congresswoman Schakowsky's Visit

Today, April 30, 2012, Congresswoman Schakowsky visited McCracken for the third year in row.  Today she came with a special announcement from the Congressional Record.  See the following link to read what she had to say (http://schakowsky.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3062:mccracken&catid=24:2012-press-releases).

We spent about an  hour with the Congresswoman discussing new ways to get our message out, why she got involved in Congress, her impact on society, and what all people can do to make the world a better place.  We appreciate her continued support, and look forward to continuing our partnership in the future.

 Congresswoman Schakowsky reading the Congressional Record.

A.C.T. members giving a presentation about events this year.

Congresswoman Schakowsky listening to our presentation.

The whole group

Thanks for visiting us!  We appreciate your visit!

April Show-ers

Students selling items at April Show-ers!  

Over $100 worth of merchandise!  Great job guys!

Congressional Record!

On April 30th, Congresswoman Schakowsky will be coming to visit our school once again to see our progress over the past year.  A.C.T. students will also have the opportunity to ask questions about children's rights and what is happening in Congress.

To commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day, Congresswoman Schakowsky gave a speech on the House floor mentioning our work.  Please see the following link to the Congressional Record, and then search for Schakowsky.  Click on the link for The Holocaust (April 19, 2012).

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/LegislativeData.php?&n=Record

And to Congresswoman Schakowsky's page:

http://schakowsky.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3059:remarks-in-observance-of-holocaust-remembrance-day&catid=24:2012-press-releases

Thank you to Congresswoman Schakowsky for recognizing the hard work done by the students this year.

Deborah Ellis

Thanks to Deborah Ellis for her lovely note and autographed bookmarks for the A.C.T. students.  It was such a pleasure to meet her, and have the chance to discuss real world issues.

Dengeos Day!

On Wednesday, April 18th, Dengeos will be donating 20% of sales to A Better Life for Kids.  Please visit with the coupon, and make sure to thank them for their support!

Another student reflects on Student Leadership Day

Recently, I attended Student Leadership Day at the Holocaust Museum. At the conference, we discussed identity and our universe of obligation, the people who we care about. We also toured the museum and discussed how the exhibits we saw connected to leadership and identity. During lunch, we met with witnesses to the Holocaust. The witness at my table was a Jewish girl during the Holocaust, and was safe in France at the time. Later, her parents, who were at a concentration camp, were reunited and found her. We also had the opportunity to hear from Nadja Halibegovich, who escaped Bosnian genocide as a young girl in the 1990s. Her story was very inspiring and showed how everyone can make a difference. My experience at Student Leadership Day was very enlightening and inspiring, and it showed how far the world has come, and how far it can go, and how we, as students, can help.

Nathaniel

More Reflections from Student Leadership Day

On March 22, I was chosen to go to the Holocaust Museum for a Student Leadership Day. This visit was so eye opening, and I really learned a lot of valuable information that I will take back with me to our school and to ACT.

During this visit, we walked through the museum and looked at different exibits. This was so incredible for me, because I really got to see how horrible conditions were, and how hopeless so many people felt during this time. Just seeing all of the people who were killed in this horrible time just really made me want to push through, and make sure this would never happen again. It made me feel so grateful for what I have, the rights that I have, and the rights that I will have when I get older. These people who were targeted by the Holocaust were shunned by their neighbors and they were killed in mass numbers. I am so lucky to have all of my rights, and I think this day really helped me learn this, and really appreciate my life.

Now, in seventh grade, I understand that we will go to the museum in the near future, but what made this visit so different from what we are going to see was that different schools went to different parts of the museum, and when we came back together, we discussed what we saw, and what we all thought of it. Another reason why this day was so amazing was that we got to hear from other kids our age, and how they felt about this issue, and also about bullying, because the Holocaust is really just a much more extreame and horrible form of bullying in our schools. If people stand up, then it can stop, and we can prevent anything like this from happening again. Hearing everyone else speak about how they want to make a difference helped me realize that we can prevent this from ever happening again, and we can make a differece.

I also hope to share Naja's story with my peers because it is such an inspiring story, and it so closely connects to our idea in ACT to help children around the world. It makes us want to help children around the world, and we can make a difference, together.
Lily