Alumni Helping Heights Students

On February 23, 2006, 19 Heights students went to see the play: The Diary of Anne Frank performed at The Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood. The play was a powerful rendition of the famous book written by a young girl who was forced to go into hiding with her family during the Nazi regime of WWII. The students were very moved by the intense scenes and the very human expressions of hope and longings for freedom. Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame member, Al Gray, made this memorable evening possible by subsidizing the purchase of the tickets for the show.

On March 8, 2006, 23 Heights students had the honor and pleasure of being hosted by Hall of Fame member Harlan Diamond at Executive Caterers at Landerhaven. That evening, Mrs. Linda Hooper, the principal at Whitwell Middle School in Tennessee, the initiator of “The Paper Clips Project”, spoke to an audience of over 700 people. Her presentation entitled; “The Power of One” revealed to the crowd the story of how her Christian student body learned about and commemorated the tragedies of the Holocaust. Their project eventually turned into an international effort and it became the subject of an acclaimed documentary movie. Mrs. Hooper’s story was an unforgettable lesson of how a committed group of students can change the world, one classroom at a time. Our Heights students were the only group of young people in the audience and Mrs. Hooper went out of her way to spend time with our students both before and after her speech. She also gratefully acknowledged their presence on several occasions during her presentation.

The R.E.A.L. School at CHHS would like to acknowledge Al Gray and Harlan Diamond for their support and generosity in helping make possible two very memorable educational experiences for current Heights High students.

The coordinators of these two memorable experiences for students were Heights Grads: Adrienne Yelsky (also a member of the Hall of Fame) and Mark Sack, both Social Studies teachers in the R.E.A.L. School at CHHS.