SHINE A LIGHT
English teacher wins award for battling hate and antisemitism
Seneca Valley Intermediate High School teacher Michele Russo was recently awarded the Antisemitism Civic Courage Award by the Shine A Light organization, honoring her for her work in teaching students how to take action against antisemitism and hate in their communities.
“To receive this award is quite an honor,” said Russo. “It means so much that this recognition validates the important work that so many of us are doing in trying to combat not only antisemitism but celebrating diversity as well.”
Shine A Light, a national initiative, helps organizations, institutions and individuals to unite to fight antisemitism. The Courage Award honors those who exemplify being an upstanding citizen while working to stop antisemitism and hate where they live.
Russo, who teaches English at the intermediate school, has made it her goal to learn about marginalized groups by traveling to places like Poland with Classrooms Without Borders and becoming a coordinator with the LIGHT Education Initiative. She then passes on what she has learned in the classroom.
“Our curriculum focuses on the standards and skills necessary for English instruction. But also, we have tailored it to include essential and focus questions that we feel focus more on looking at students as citizens and people of the world, preparing them for that as well as reading and writing,” said Russo.
Students in her sophomore class
watched the film “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life,” about the 2018 synagogue shooting in Squirrel Hill. It was important to Russo that students connect past events like the Holocaust to modern-day antisemitism.
“They need to know why it is important to know and understand the past because, if we do not learn from it, it just keeps repeating,” she said.
Russo’s second-quarter class discussed the question “How do we create a more inclusive world?” The students studied ways to respect and appreciate the differences in people while understanding human rights, marginalized groups and how prejudice and bias come about.
“The work being done by Ms. Russo to bring the Tree of Life tragedy and antisemitism to our students is part of what we believe builds a stronger community,” said principal Chet Henderson. “A community in which we learn to respect one another, even though we have our differences.
“The work that Ms. Russo and many others do is to be commended,” he added.
Russo said she strives to get students to ask questions.
“I say in class that I do not tell them what to think — no one should. They need to think critically for themselves. That is very important for them to understand to prepare them for their future,” she said.