The Making of (an Unlikely) Holocaust Educator
I know you’re wondering, “why is she unlikely?” Even though my first name is Rachel, a typical Jewish name, I am of Puerto Rican descent, born and raised in the Bronx. I did not grow up with Jews in my neighborhood and the only Jewish person I ever knew as an adolescent was (ironically) Raquel Smith. The only reason why I met her was because I attended summer school for Math at the distinguished Rhodes School in Manhattan. My father and stepmom had close Jewish friends through their political activism, and I never heard antisemitic speech in my house. Fast forward 35 years and now I’m a High School History Teacher. I’ve taught in several school districts, two of urban demographics. Where I teach now and will be the place I will eventually retire from, is at Newtown High School, in Sandy Hook, CT. I had a Jewish student who became a target of an antisemitic remark by one of his peers, IN MY CLASSROOM, while I was being observed for a lesson with m
