Press Releases:

MYCP Invites Public to Student-Created Holocaust Drama April 22

ISLAMORADA, Fla. (617 words) – With live drama, photographs, and cultural music, an original, student-created production sets the stage unlike any other presentation seen about the Holocaust. In monologue memoir recitations, eerie lighting, frantic sounds, and alarming action, Coral Shores High School drama students bring “Can You Hear Them Crying” with stories of the Holocaust to a heart-wrenching reality. They have performed it to silent peer audiences and now offer it for a first-ever public viewing Sunday, April 22 in the Coral Shores Performing Arts Center at 6 p.m. A $5 donation is requested at the door.

As part of the Monroe Youth Challenge Program (MYCP) Youth Violence Prevention Week held last month, Tracy Dobson’s drama class at Coral Shores High School created and rehearsed “Can You Hear them Crying.”

“Can You Hear them Crying” is a Holocaust Memorial production designed and performed by students in Dobson’s drama class. This production was made possible by the partnership of MYCP and a Florida Learn and Serve grant. “The students have taken two scripts and combined them with music, poetry, and a slide show we have performed for schools in the Upper Keys and hope to bring it to all three county public high schools and Island Christian School,” said MYCP Prevention Coordinator Michele Sutter.

“Can You Hear Them Crying” is a production from the nature of the students according to Dobson. She says, “Their mission is to educate, remind and empower our youth on the dangers of violence and the impact of viewing others through a hierarchy of separation determined by the mind and not the heart. Their last line will not let us forget the atrocities of the Holocaust.”

“This public presentation follows Yom Hashoah, an important day of remembrance for all people,” said Sutter. The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah in Hebrew) is set for Sunday, April 15 – Monday, April 16. It is a national day of commemoration in Israel, on which the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust are memorialized.

Part of preparing the drama class was a field trip to the Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial.and attendance at Student Awareness Day, a Holocaust symposium in Miami March 21. At the symposium, students sat in small groups for round-table discussions with trained facilitators and survivors of the Holocaust. Also in preparation for the drama, Speaker Yardena Kameli, who was trained by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem to teach Holocaust studies, visited with the drama class to share about the impact the Holocaust had upon children. Yad Vashem is the leading institution in the world focused on Holocaust documentation and education. Kameli, a psychologist and educator originally from Israel, is a member of the Keys Jewish Community Center (KJCC) in Tavernier and teaches Hebrew classes there each week.

In addition, several community members contributed to this creation. Local musician David Feder spent time with guitarist Javier Soltero to sharpen his guitar skills. Vocal teacher, Marysia Wronka also gave time to coach freshman Cynthia Sabin who sings, Boker Tov, which means good morning in Hebrew as part of the production.

Monroe Youth Challenge Program is a project of the Monroe County Education Foundation to foster acceptance, respect, and success in the youth of Monroe County. For more information contact Michele Sutter at (305) 852-1664 or visit www.monroe.k12.fl.us/mycp. For information on Yad Vashem or the Holocaust, visit http://www1.yadvashem.org