By Shannon Lukens.
Updated at 8:20 a.m. Monday, Oct. 2, with letter from Kate Nowak, Exec. Director of United Way of the Yampa Valley
Updated at 8:45 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 28 with the speech from Kelly Latterman.
An all-school assembly at Steamboat Springs High School Wednesday, focused on anti-Semitism, discrimination and bullying. The assembly was called due to recent vandalism with swastikas in the community.
Steamboat Springs Police Chief Mark Beckett spoke. He said every human being has underlying bias. He then asked the students who has been bullied, and then who has bullied someone else. He then asked who has stood by while someone was bullied. Chief Beckett encouraged the students to stand up to the bully. “You take power away from them and you give power to the person being victimized.”
Chief Beckett said every person has the right to come to school and not be bullied.
Chief Beckett said the swastika is the most recognized symbol of hate in our country and in our world. It was turned into a symbol of hate by the Nazis. He said we have started to lose touch with that history. “When you use these hate symbols, you impact an entire community that you aren’t aware of.” He added that it is a crime to write a swastika whether it is on someone’s paper or through vandalism, because it is a hate crime.
He also reminded the students that it wasn’t just Jews killed in the Holocaust during World War II. It was gypsys, members of the LGBTQ community, the disabled, and more.
Rabbi Kolby Morris-Dahary also spoke about the dangers of anti-Semitism. She reminded the students and staff at the assembly that it was a year ago, on Sept. 26, that a swastika was drawn on someone’s car in the high school park lot. She says the family of the victim called her right away. She also said that family has since moved away.
Rabbi Kolby says more alarming things have continued to happen in the past year, which affects us all in different ways. “When you are a minority, like being Jewish, you are completely at the hands of the adults around you.”
She had a message to the Jewish students in the gymnasium, “We support you and we are listening.” She said to reach out to your counselors, and teachers and other adults in the community. “We are here with our safety net open.” She said, “We are done talking and we’re ready to listen. The ball is in our court to be accountable to you.”
Rabbi Kolby’s full speech is below.
The last speaker was Gerry Verdoner, who is a Spanish teacher at the high school. He shared his emotional Jewish history to the students, starting with how the Nazis killed millions in the Holocaust, including his family members. He shared the specific examples of how his family members escaped the Nazis, or how they were turned in and caught, like his grandfather, who was sent to do hard labor. His father was a baby, and they took him to an orphanage to hide him. The woman running the orphanage made a choice to save his life when the Nazis came in looking for Jewish children.
“As a member of Steamboat’s Jewish community, and a child of a Holocaust survivor and having family members who also perished during the war, and family lineage that has been persecuted back to Spain 500 years ago, being able to share my truth and my light with the students in Steamboat and hopefully be able to share their light with the world is just an awesome opportunity.”
Verdoner said, “I am here today to ask you to help me turn darkness to light. I know we are better. Each one of you has the light in your heart to do what is right.”
Verdoner’s speech outline is below. Please take a moment to read it.
Principal Jay Hamric kicked off the anti-Semitism assembly saying anti-Semitism is serious and significant. He said the school should be a place that feels like home, with a sense of family, inclusion, and belonging. He said, “Students need to know how your neighbor feels. This world needs more empathy.”
SPEAKERS AT TUESDAY NIGHT’S SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
On Tuesday night, frustrated students, parents, teachers and community members stood up and spoke at the Steamboat Springs School District Board of Education meeting. It was about the recent swastika vandalism in the community. Ten people told the school board that the district needs to do more to address the anti-Semitism.
One person who spoke is sophomore Bella Davidson.
“The school district needs to address these issues and they need to help start being a part of the change to fix them so that this stops happening.”
Bella is the student representative for STAND, which is Steamboat Team to Disrupt Anti-Semitism and Discrimination. She reminded the board that it was a year ago that the swastika was drawn on a car in the high school parking lot. Davidson called for change in the district. “Change needs to keep on increasing rapidly until swastikas are no longer a part of our community.” She asked the board for a standard defense protocol, or else, “The crime, hate, and fear will not stop.”
Cindy Ruzicka is a teacher at Steamboat Springs Middle School, a practicing Jew, and parents to two children. She told of swastikas drawn on a notebook seven years ago, and the district said it wouldn’t be tolerated. She said they need to catch the criminal but the root of the cause needs to be addressed. “Anti-Semitism threatens the security of Jewish people. It has become increasingly mainstream here in Steamboat Springs. Steamboat Springs School District needs to address anti-Semitism by name and not a veiled response.”
Sari Davidson is the Educational Director of Har Mishpacha. She said as a Jewish daughter, her parents had to flee their home during World War II and the rest of her family was murdered. She asked the Steamboat Springs School Board to make changes on how hate crime is handled in the district. “It is time for the school district to define a hate policy and provide anti-bias programming.” She added that hate usually begins at home. She encouraged everyone to take the next steps to fight the discrimination, using inclusion, empathy, tolerance, and “understanding for their peers who are different from them.”
Sloane Speer is a student at Steamboat Springs High School. She said the school is full of educated and aware kids but the culture is not perfect. “We have a long way to go.”
Sophie Flam is with Students for Social Justice. She said the Anti-Semitism should not be part of our school. She said someone drew a swastika on her papers last year and it happened again in math next week. She said, “I felt real primal fear and went to the bathroom and cried.”
Clark Davidson said this is an ongoing problem that is on the rise, “and it has fallen on your laps today.” He said the swastikas are directed to all, “including blacks, latinos, and women.”
Stacey Kramer is a 40-year resident of the Steamboat Springs community. She says the anti-Semitism has been a problem for a long time and that it is a community problem. She asked the school board to partner with the STAND committee and come up with an “actual solution.”
Sofia Scherff-Zamora is also a student. She spoke of the dangers of social media and how in recent years, the hate has been directed towards Jewish students. She encouraged everyone to report the extremist content.
Former Steamboat Springs School Board President Kelly Latterman said when she was president of the board, she received an email that said how the Holocaust failed because her family didn’t die. She received it as a comment regarding the mask mandate that the school board had implemented during COVID.
Latterman said this isn’t about the high school. “This is part of a larger conversation in our community.”
She says we need to learn to celebrate difference. She said we need to talk about this transparently and then implement it. “You have the power to change that.”
Here is Kelly Latterman’s full comment to the Steamboat Springs School District Board of Education:
“The Holocaust failed because your family didn’t die, and you are here to ruin my kid’s life.”
It’s been 2.5 years since I received that message, while I sat in your seats. Serving as President of the school board. It was one of many antisemitic messages I received. In this case it stemmed from a mask mandate in schools. I did not speak about this message or others like it, publicly at the time.
Hate speech is meant to intimidate. It’s meant to isolate and scare. In this case it did just that, I was fearful it would lead to even more messages. In August of 2021, with the public rhetoric increasing and multiple comments from local parents and community members comparing mask mandates to the Holocaust publicly, I did choose to speak up. I remember saying people have freedom of speech, but not freedom of consequences.
This past week the newspaper ran an article regarding incidents of antisemitism in and around the high school. Comments on the article ranged from this was a hoax, to kids will be kids, to this being blown out of proportion and misunderstood.
When I spoke with other parents, I saw two clear themes emerge. Those who were not Jewish were shocked and expressed their disbelief that something like this could happen in Steamboat. Those who were Jewish were saddened yet completely unsurprised.
This is not new. Perhaps the openness is for some. In the past these incidents have been swept under the rug. Not just antisemitism, but all forms of racism, sexual discrimination, and harassment. This time, with such focus on the high school, I am glad to see the swift action taken.
I commend the administration for planning an assembly for tomorrow to condemn the recent incidents and for their commitment to increasing involvement in STAND (among other actions).
I want to be clear this really is not about the high school, that’s one aspect, sure, but this is very much part of a larger community conversation that needs to be ongoing.
The strength of our community is the people. In this room and serving as staff across the district I see people who have committed their lives to education and are seeking to make a positive impact in the world. This as an opportunity for education, learning how to treat others with respect and to celebrate difference not mock or fear it and certainly not to harass or intimidate.
From the board perspective, you can choose to move forward feeling confident that administrators did something, but you can also act reevaluating policy, protocols and
repercussions and allocating resources.
The district says it has a no tolerance policy. When students use hate speech or intimidation are they suspended or expelled? What about parents who threaten or intimidate students, other parents, or district employees on school grounds or online? Spell out what no tolerance means, talk about it transparently and then implement it.
I have heard defensiveness over the years, that if a student draws a swastika, defaces public property or bullies and it happens outside of school your hands are tied, but you have the power to change that just as you have with sexual assault and drug and alcohol abuse.
Regardless of where those infractions occur there are consequences.
It is good to celebrate the progress the district has made, but let’s also listen for ways to better the experiences of those who are still marginalized.
Kenny Reisman was the final speaker who thanked the board and then encouraged them to, “take the lead on this. So far, our district has not.” While he appreciated the correspondence on the vandalism incidents, he said it was buried in the “Sailor Blast.” He asked the district to make it abundantly clear that, “no tolerance means no tolerance.”
LETTER TO THE COMMUNITY FROM STEAMBOAT SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT DR. CELINE WICKS
Superintendent Dr. Celine Wicks addressed the vandalism in the September newsletter to the community. Here is the section.
I also want to take this opportunity to address the issues happening in and around our community regarding antisemitic incidents and hate crimes against marginalized groups. The Steamboat Springs School District strongly condemns all antisemitic behavior and expressions, and it is a priority of the District to educate our students against such actions. Steamboat Springs High School staff are trained in the use of restorative practices, which are techniques used to strengthen relationships between individuals as well as social connections within communities. In the high school Civics, Sociology, and American History courses, students are taught about hate crimes and hate groups. The District utilizes Facing History and Ourselves resources, whose mission challenges “teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate.” Additionally, the District utilizes resources from the American Psychological Association to explore bigotry and work to stop it. On the middle school level, the Character Strong program is being implemented. This is a research-based program that offers Social/Emotional learning along with character development. At the elementary level, we have added additional counselors and social workers to each building. Student schedules have also been adjusted to incorporate age-appropriate social/emotional learning led by trained counselors.
The recent issues are not solely on the shoulders of schools and school employees to address. We must work together as a community to teach our youth right from wrong. I respectfully request our entire community to collaborate to ensure our youth grow up in a community where everyone respects others regardless of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, or disability. We will continue to honor and educate all individuals; however, we cannot do it alone. For anyone to say that Steamboat Springs School District is not supporting any group, or is not doing enough to educate children, that simply is a gross understatement. On behalf of the entire SSSD, I implore each of you to help make our community a more caring, loving, and inclusive environment where everyone feels safe and can live their lives as they choose.
Sincerely,
Dr. Celine Wicks, Superintendent
SPEECH FROM STEAMBOAT SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER GERRY VERDONER
As a Jew… I’ve spent my whole life turning swastikas into “windows”. It’s a pretty easy fix… just a couple of lines here and a couple there and voila…. I’ve turned something dark into something that brings light.
This was how I’ve dealt with them…. Because I didn’t know what else to do. We’re here today because this dark symbol is starting to pop up here in our community… but now there’s something more I can do aside from turning them into windows. I can share my story, my truth… my light and most of all my hope…
The swastika is the symbol chosen by the Nazis during WW2.. they killed millions….
- 250,000 disabled people….
- 2 million Polish and Serbian civilians
- 5.7 Soviet citizens
- 6 million Jews
- These numbers are hard to imagine… holocaust memorial, candles reflections…. Tears to my eyes, because one of those reflections was my grandmother, one was my uncle….
- 6 million Jews one by one…
- 3 million Jews survived… one by one..
There was no candle for my father… no candle for my aunt, or my mothers parents…..
My grandmother and her family hid in the hills outside a small town outside a small town… think “clark” or “hayden”. They took turns going to town for food…. Hiking down from the cave, crossing a stream, hiking through the woods to get some scraps of bread or potato to bring back… on one such trip my great uncle Daniel was caught and lined up in front of a firing squad. Ein Sfien trien… bang! (He fell before he was shot and laid there until he could get away.)
News that Germans were in the village, and the cave/woods where they were hiding weren’t safe. They Joined into the mass in a small church in the town. Soldiers came into the church to look for Jews. They hid in plain sight, nobody turned them in. Jews played along with hand signals etc.. and said Jewish prayers inside their hearts… Shema Israel….
Keep in mind that had my family been caught, the whole church would have been taken, but had one person spoken up, they all probably would have been saved… but they didn’t. Each and every person in that church put their life on the line for my family….. for me. What would YOU do? Would you risk your own safety to save someone you didn’t really know well? Would you risk your life to save me?
My Grandfather’s story was a little different. We knew a lot of it for many years… Every Story he ever told started with a date and a location….
On March 3, 1943, the Bulgarians gathered the Jews in tobacco warehouses and transported by train and then by boat down the Danube to Treblinka, a concentration camp/crematorium. Most of the boats accidently flipped and everyone drowned…. My grandfather and his family were not on these boats.
He and Peppo, his best friend were strong and healthy, so they were taken to a camp called Bilitizin. They did HARD labor there during the war, but survived. His sister was pregnant, so was shot on the spot… the Nazis didn’t want to deal with babies. The rest of his family were taken to Auschwitz. HE swore to his last day that while in the camp, he saw his mother pass by in cattle car. This was the last memory of his mother, to his death, had nightmares about his mother.
After the war, he returned to Kavala. Aside from my grandfather and Peppo there were only a few Jews left in the town. Nono and Peppo were still best friends. Married sisters to make sure they stayed close forever.
My father’s family was a different story…
Nazi occupation of Holland started in may of 1940. My father was born in 39
My grandfather was well connected with the Dutch underground resistance. He went to work immediately to hid his children. My aunts were easily hidden… but, it was tougher to hide boys. Jewish boys are circumcised, so it was easy to tell…. Nobody would take the risk. By 1942, the same year Anne Frank and her family went into hiding, My dad, Otto, who was 3 at the time, was dressed up in all of his clothes, put on the back of a bicycle and taken to an orphanage….
In the orphanage, the Nazis came through from time to time to check. He would always have to run and hide. One time they came at night. He slept at the bottom of the bed, under the covers most of the time, so the lady at the orphanage just messed the blankets, like the bed needed to be made. She, one person, made a decision to save my dad’s life.
Eventually he made it out of the orphanage and went to live in the countryside in a small village, with a family willing to risk everything to help. My dad was taught to lie from the start. He was not confined to an attic, but it was almost worse. He could go outside, but he saw dogfights and planes falling from the skies. What was hidden was his identity, who he really was. It was a huge web of lies.
Almost immediately upon arrival, he marched to meet a neighbor.. yeah, he looks like you. The neighbor made a choice to do what was right. Unlike his sisters, who were Physically hidden, he was hidden in the open, so it was important that others in the town made the choice to do what was right and go along with it.
On Dec 18th of 1942, with all of the children safely hidden, my grandfather Gerrit, for whom I’m named, and my grandmother Hilde worked to hide themselves. Gerrit was traveling some during the war, moving around, working with the underground. Hilde had contacted a man in Portugal who was selling visas… I guess her hope was that they could get the visas and escape the war before it got any worse. She was wrong. He turned her in. One person made the choice to choose darkness, and not light, to go along with the Nazis and not do what was right. By the end of the war, the whole village knew the truth, about my father’s identity but nobody snitched. They all chose light over darkness.
She was taken to Westerbork. Westerbork was not a death camp, like Auschwitz, or a work camp like Bilitzin, where my Nono went… but it was no vacation. It was a “waiting room” of sorts. A holding camp for those on their way to other camps, mostly Auschwitz. There was a weekly transport that left Westerbork every Tuesday… that carried around 1,000 souls to the showers at Auschwitz.
My Grandmother, Hilde was well educated, and could type well, so the Nazis put her to work at a typewriter and had her keep records of those who came in and out. Through their connections with the Dutch Underground, and her access to the typewriter, MY grandparents were able to smuggle letters in and out of the camp. There were even attempts to break her out, but she never went.
Why do you think? Everyone she knew in the camp would have been on the next train to Auschwitz. SHE made a choice to protect those around her.
One day she wrote to my grandfather. “My worst fears have come true” She was to be on the train to Auschwitz next Tuesday. That was the last letter.
So here I am again, faced with darkness, swastikas, and making windows.. sharing my light. I hope that each of you has the courage to make the tough choice and do what’s right as well. There’s enough darkness in this world. It’s up to you to fill it with light.
SPEECH FROM RABBI KOLBY MORRIS-DAHARY
Hello everyone. Names are important and my name, for most in this community, is Rabbi Kolby. The name Rabbi comes with it all kinds of assumptions, and many of the assumptions about the name rabbi are probably not translated to reality when you look at me. I often introduce myself as Rabbi when I want others to respect me. Today, to you, I will talk to you not as Rabbi Kolby but just Kolby. Because today is not about respecting me, it’s about respecting each other.
Names are important. I remember lots of names…. It’s part of my job now. I remember Liz, the 2nd grader in my small suburb town who threw pennies at me because my family was the only Jewish family in town. But more than her, I remember the names Zack and Helene. You see, in school, especially in high school, I was actually part of the popular group. I went to an arts school so instead of being a star athlete, the equivalent in my school was being the star of the theater productions and that was me. I had the power and the choice to be nice or mean to others. Zack and Helene were two of the people that I bullied because they were different. Their names have been repeating in my mind and heart these past few weeks.
A year ago yesterday, September 26, the family of a Jewish student at this school first reached out about a swastika drawn on the student’s car on Rosh Hashanah, one of Judaism’s most Holy days. Over the past few weeks, as you know, there have been an alarming increase in hate crimes in our community, many of which happened in or near your school. When these incidents happen, it has a significant impact on the Jewish community and other marginalized communities. It affects us each in different ways. I’ll give you a real life, real time example: On Rosh Hashanah last week I was leading services in my community and the officer on duty came to the nursery to inform my spouse that the back windshield of our car was completely shattered and shot at while in the back parking lot of our synagogue. Because of the recent swastika incidents, my husband and I were sure that we were the targets of a hate crime. Now, this incident ended up being entirely unrelated and was actually just an unfortunate accident by a neighborhood kid playing with a BB gun (another issue but not the issue we are here to talk about today).
However, that fear that we experienced in those few minutes when we thought that it was related; the trauma that arose for us in thinking about the what if’s, what if our one-year-old baby was in the car when it happened…. the fear that I have every-time I step into my community prayer space as I am the person responsible for these Jews coming to pray; this fear is the real weapon of antisemitism and discrimination. This is the same fear that many of you have had this week, and other weeks, to come to school because you don’t feel safe. It is the same fear that prevents many of your teachers and classmates and their parents from telling people that being Jewish is part of their names. It is the same fear that resurfaces for Jewish people who have relatives who died at the hands of those who wore those same swastikas on their arms. Names are important and these names of relatives who died in the holocaust resurface every time we see that symbol. This is the same fear that drives many people to move away from our town, like the family of the student from the swastika incident last year, because they simply can’t take it anymore.
I am Israeli and lived there during waves of terror attacks and times of war, so fear is something that I am familiar with. But when you are the minority, like being Jewish is in this town, it changes the game. And when you are a student, the fear is even worse. You are completely at the hands of the adults around you and if we are speaking honestly…we have failed you. When these things continue to happen, you need to know that they care enough to help stop them from happening in order to allow that fear to not win.
Which is exactly why my most important message today is the following and it’s to the Jewish students here at this school: we support you and we are listening. If you are Jewish or part of another marginalized group and need someone to talk to, reach out. There are incredible counselors here at this school, teachers, trusted adults in our community like myself, Pastor Tim Selby of Heart of Steamboat, Chelsie Holmes of Queer Futures and others. We are here for you with our safety net open. Last night I heard some of your brave classmates speak about their experience of discrimination at this school. We are done sitting in a room talking about you. We are ready to listen. That goes for you teachers as well who need support.
If you are one of the students who are drawing these swastikas or watching your friends do it and saying nothing, bullying others because they are Jewish, gay, trans, black, brown, Asian American, Latinx, indigenous, have immigrant families, those with disabilities, or anyone else…. we are here for you too. We know what you are up against and we have all let you down too. Some of you learn it at home. Some of you learn it from social media. Some of you just have no idea what you are doing and the impact it has. Ask us, we are here, and we will listen.
Names are important. I think about Zack and Helene, the ones that I bullied, more often than you might think and sometimes I look for them on social media to make sure that they are healthy and happy. If they weren’t, I would 100% feel responsible even though this happened 30 years ago. I can promise you with a certainty that all of the things that you think are important right now are actually not important at all. What defines our lives is hands down how we treat others.
This is Homecoming Week. The ball is not just in your court, it’s in all of ours. The ball is in our court…. trusted adults…. as your coaches to be accountable to you and we will not let you down this time. The ball is in your court too as you build the home you want to come home to. A home to be proud of. A home that is safe for every single one of you. We can do this. Thank you.
UPDATE on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023 from Kate Nowak with United Way of the Yampa Valley
Living United in the Valley
The Yampa Valley is beautiful in so many ways. Our mountains and landscape, particularly now during autumn are breathtaking. From the United Way of the Yampa Valley’s (UWYV) perspective, it’s our people that make our valley beautiful. The acceptance, respect, and honoring of who people are is what makes our community so special. Having a diverse community in the middle of the northwest Colorado mountains is what makes our valley unique. Whether you have lived here all your life or just moved here, it’s the welcoming, friendly, and accepting community that keeps us here.