EVMS students hear from Holocaust survivor

A Holocaust survivor spent Wednesday visiting East Valley Middle School children. Noemi Ban, a Bellingham resident, spoke at a morning assembly and then gave in-depth talks in different eighth-grade classrooms during the day.

“You can learn about it in a book but the contact between the survivors and the listeners is so strong, so lasting and so deep,” explained Ban, about why she goes to different schools, organizations and senior residences to talk.

“For them to hear the personal story of a survivor is priceless. From me they are learning a lot of hope, that we should never give up, and I’m a living example.”

Ban, who was a sixth-grade teacher for 16 years, lit up whenever a student asked her about something or thanked her. Born in Hungary, Ban was 19 in 1944 when the Nazis took her and members of her family to Auschwitz, one of several Nazi concentration camps.

Ban tells her audiences about the horrors suffered by the Jews in the camp.

Before the end of World War II, she was taken from Auschwitz along with 1,000 Hungarian females to the Buchenwald camp to work for Germany’s war effort. She described how she and the other prisoners were like skeletons because of starvation. But to work, they had to be fed.

The group started receiving potato skins, she said, until one day a miracle happened. They found chunks of the potatoes, hidden among the skins.

Years later, Ban met the Hungarian woman now in Seattle who had peeled deeply enough into the potatoes to provide more to the other prisoners.

“She risked her life doing that,” Ban told the students.

Ban said she believes she needs to tell the story of her generation and speak out against hatred. She has written a book with Dr. Ray Wolpow titled, “Sharing is Healing.”

“I survived and not many of us did. I feel a duty and mission to tell our story.”

Battle of the books

A battle ensued Wednesday between two middle school teams: The Waffles and Good Charlotte.

Rather than scoring with a ball, East Valley Middle School students ran with book knowledge. Since February, they’ve been reading a list of 10 works of literature to prepare for a new school challenge: “Name That Book.”

They started competing in quiz elimination rounds beginning in May.

About 50 students took their lunch in the library this week to watch the top two teams compete. Each team had to name the book from eight questions about a character or plotline. They scored extra points for naming the author.

If the opposing team missed a question, the other group could score bonuses with the correct answer.

“In which book is President Cleveland mentioned?” questioned Linda Carper, the school’s librarian. Amy Zimmerman threw out the answer, “Fair Weather.”

“That is correct,” Carper answered, to which Zimmeran did a dramatic wipe of her brow. She and teammates Chelsea Luke and Alison Ness of Good Charlotte went on to win overall. Final score: Waffles 46, Good Charlotte 50.

“I read all the books and reviewed information about the authors and the books before I came,” said Zimmeran, afterward. “It got me interested in books I didn’t even know were out there.” Her favorite on the list: “Silverwing.”

Other students admitted they didn’t read all 10 books but did increase their reading.

“I usually don’t read,” admitted Kamerynn Harvey, a Waffles member. “There are probably more I’m going to read now. There were some I liked.”

Another Waffle member, Amy Fitterer, also gained something. “I learned to read a different variety of books.”

Carper coordinated the school’s “Name That Book” challenge. She started with about 21 teams, each consisting of three to four students. After Wednesday’s final round and pizza party, the winning team received hardback copies of the 2004 Newbery Award winning book, “The Tale of Despereaux.”

Liberty Lake group grants scholarships

Friends of Pavillion Park, a nonprofit Liberty Lake organization, announced recipients of 2004 scholarships. They are:

• Paul Gu, of Lewis and Clark High School, plans to attend Dartmouth College to study biomedical engineering, premed and music. He was a valedictorian, a three-year volunteer at Deaconess Hospital and a Spokane Youth Orchestra member.

• Ashli Zemp, of Central Valley High School, will go to Brigham Young University to study recreational management and youth leadership. She participated in community food drives, helped create care packages for soldiers in Iraq and was a youth camp leader.

• Jacob Reed, of CV, will go to Utah State University and plans to study music, drama, foreign language, business and religion. He is a salutatorian and Eagle Scout.

• Tania Hamed, of CV, will attend Washington State University. She was active in National Honor Society, Key Club, REAL Club, and link crew. She also has volunteered, including work through Key Club and as a youth teacher at Islamic Center.

• Steven Kearnes, also of CV, plans to attend Brigham Young University to study general education, science and history. He was in Knowledge Bowl, band, and Boy Scouts. He volunteered to label storm drains warning of aquifer and lake pollution, did leaf and watershed cleanup and was an assistant Scoutmaster. He also is an Eagle Scout.