In 2018, the city of Pittsburgh experienced a tragedy when a gunman entered the Tree of Life Synagogue and opened fire, injuring seven and killing 11. Every year since the attack, the victims are honored.

October 27, 2022, marked the four-year anniversary of the tragedy. Shaler Area High School students involved in Mrs. Abbey Nilson’s Sustainability class, Ms. Catlyn Dispasquale’s LIGHT classes (Holocaust and Multicultural Studies), and the student LIGHT ambassadors traveled to the Tree of Life Synagogue and Chatham University for a remembrance ceremony and a panel discussion with current Chatham students. The university is also now home to the new Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh which is on the edge of the school’s campus.

The LIGHT initiative started as an extension of the Holocaust class at Shaler Area High School. The goal of program was to bring awareness to genocides and antisemitism, however it has evolved into promoting diversity and inclusion in addition to Holocaust awareness.

The students first arrived at the Tree of Life Synagogue and participated in numerous activities including an art gallery walk-through and a presentation given by a Tree of Life Ambassador which included a reading of the names of the 11 victims.

The students completed a clean-up of the backyard area at the Holocaust Center, picking up things like branches, leaves, and other debris. Currently, the building is being renovated to provide an inviting place for visitors to explore, as well as a field trip destination for the LIGHT classes. This will ultimately provide students with a new space, environment, and experience.

The students greatly enjoyed cleaning up the building as it was an act that directly impacted their community. This excitement was even shown through their work.

“It took us almost no time at all to finish it up because we had so many people working hard,” junior Keira Kennedy said.

The students will also be given the chance to revisit the site in the spring. In this planned visit, they hope to plant flowers and pollinator bushes around the building to brighten it up. They also hope to implement possible design ideas that students brainstormed in this past trip.

One student came up with the idea to have 11 different flowers planted to honor each of the 11 victims, another brought up the idea of an outdoor classroom in the backyard. The main intent for the building is to honor the Tree of Life Synagogue while creating an interactive workspace for students. For example, the inside of the building will include educational resources and learning spaces for students.

Two victims of the Tree of Life shooting, Cecil and David Rosenthal were very active members of their community. After they were killed in the shooting, the family advocated for random acts of kindness in honor of the brothers.

This prompted people to get out and do things to better their community instead of simply mourning the victims. By going out on this field trip and planning more in the future to improve the new Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, Shaler Area students are answering this call to action and honoring the victims of the tragedy that occurred right in their backyard.

The students then went to Chatham University where a presentation was given in regard to the application process of Chatham and information about attending the university.

“The presentation was very helpful, especially for the school itself,” junior Alice Yang said.

Students were also given the opportunity to talk with current students and ask any questions about going to college. This was found to be very helpful for the current Shaler students because they could hear directly from college students who were honest about their experiences. Many high school students have never stepped foot onto a college campus and do not know what a school may have to offer, however, this gave them the opportunity to discover these new possibilities.

“The other students on the panel were really great because they were just so well rounded in explaining what Chatham has to offer even outside of the classroom,” DiPasquale said.

Chatham was chosen to visit because of their work in building upon the climate of diversity and inclusion around its school. Social justice and sustainability are two of the school’s main pillars when it comes to its atmosphere.