WESTON HIGH STUDENTS RAISE AWARENESS OF GENOCIDE IN DARFUR
By Ruthie Wittenberg

Weston Town Crier
Thu Jul 02, 2009, 02:27 AM EDT

WESTON – A rally to raise awareness of the genocide in Darfur took
place at Weston High School on June 10. It was initiated and organized
by Weston High students, with sophomore Alexander Kaye one of the
main drivers behind the event.

The idea arose when Don Benson, the teacher of a 10th-grade world
history class, assigned a research project on genocide. The students
conducted research on countries affected by genocide, such as Armenia,
Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Sudan.

Benson asked his students to draw connections and to observe
commonalities between each of the genocides and to present their
findings.

According to Benson, upon learning about Darfur, Kaye stood up and
declared, "I don’t want to say I lived through this period in history
and did nothing to stop it."

Upon deciding to organize the rally, Kaye and his classmates were
faced with several challenges. To begin with, there was no logical
date on which to hold the event. In addition, because it was late
May and the school year was drawing to a close, such an event would
require teachers to give up some of their teaching time in close
proximity to final exams.

Furthermore, in the search to find an informative and meaningful
speaker, the students found they were not taken seriously.

Nevertheless, Kaye’s leadership with the support of his teachers
enabled the rally to take place.

Benson considers the event to be a success not only because $325 was
raised in support of the cause, but more importantly, the awareness
of the atrocities in Darfur was elevated within the Weston High
School community.

Panther Alier, a refugee during the civil war which took place in
Sudan in the 1980s and one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan," spoke at the
rally. A noted activist for human rights and for the plight of the
Sudanese, Alier spoke movingly about the war and genocide through
his personal experience.

The money raised through a couple of bake sales and with outside
donations will all be sent to the organization Save Darfur.

Aside from its noble intentions and successes, this experience was
distinctive as one completely carried out by the students. In the
words of Benson, this was "an event fully inspired by students (and
one in which) everyone participated."

Faculty commented after the rally that it was one of the best
assemblies of the school year.

There has been some discussion about a follow-up rally in the fall,
once school has resumed. Benson predicts students both in and outside
of his world history class are likely to remain active with the cause.