"Leaving Our Island:" Sakai School internment curriculum (CAFE-065)

It would be easier to turn the page on the dark chapters of our history. But then, how would we heal, or learn, or grow as a society?

 In this powerful podcast, students Evelyn Cantwell and Ethan Soltanzadeh join teacher Jim Starrs in a conversation about Sakai Intermediate School's Leaving Our Island curriculum, a study of the Japanese internment during World War II.

Evelyn, a current 6th grader, Ethan, a high schooler and former Sakai student,and Jim, a 6th grade social studies and language arts teacher, share with us the many ways in which the curriculum uses stories, theater, books, and writing to bring to life the internment of Bainbridge’s 276 Japanese Americans. 

It's particularly moving to hear Evelyn and Ethan talk about forum day, when those internment survivors, who were the first to be exiled in 1942, come to the classroom to share their stories with students.

Listen to this podcast and be inspired by their reflections, and the lessons they draw that can serve all of us.

Credits: BCB host: Christina Hulet; audio editor and publisher: Diane Walker.