Intro

Hi I am Tom Houle, I am a senior at Westborough High School that took the Facing History and Ourselves course. I decided to take Facing History and Ourselves because I heard that it was an incredibly interesting and eye opening class. I was told that the class was a must take as senior, and after taking the class I completely agree with those statements. Facing History and Ourselves is the only must take class at Westborough High School. Facing History and Ourselves changes the way that you act, speak, and treat those around you. The first half of the course Facing History and Ourselves is based on mistreatment of African-Americans and the Great Depression. The main focus of the first half of the course is Jim Crow and the stereotypes of African-Americans and how that leads to hatred and mistreatment of African-Americans in American. The second half of the year, the course focuses on the causes of the Holocaust. Every aspect of the cause of the Holocaust is examined from the political to the religious causes. The class starts with the 1930’s and the roots of the Holocaust and how the ideas begin to enter into the minds of the German people. After this the class looks at the rise of Hitler and how he managed to spread his hate filled message that poisoned the minds of old Germans and young Germans alike. For a while the course examines the Hitler Youth and how Hitler used the youth of Germany to spread his message, we also looked at the consequences if a German youth did not join the Hitler Youth. After this the course turned and looked at and into Hitler’s concentration and death camps. Looking into these camps was incredibly shocking and disturbing because you cannot believe that a group of people would be able to do that an entire race of people, simply for being a different ethnicity. Facing History and Ourselves is an eye opening class that every senior should be mandated to take or else they can not graduate.