Eighth Graders have begun their final term at DCD with a course in Facing History and Ourselves. English and history classes are combined in this special humanities unit that explores aspects of racism, prejudice, genocide and human behavior using the Holocaust as a backdrop and a case study. 


DCD uses the curriculum developed by the Facing History and Ourselves Organization, a nonprofit international educational and professional entity whose mission it is to “engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry.”

In response to readings, movies, and live conversations with Holocaust survivors, students grapple with some very complex issues, discussing and considering the implications of history and the connection to moral choices they may face and encounter in their own lives. The class combines intellectual exploration with the opportunity for important moral and ethical character building.  

Recent visitors to the Facing History and Ourselves class were Max Michelson, a Latvian Jewish survivor of the Holocaust and Elizabeth Dopazo, a Jehovah’s witness in Germany during world War II.