Genocide Commemoration Day—April 15, 2025

For the fifth year, we are hosting an all-District Genocide Commemoration Day.  At DHS, classes will be assigned to one of the keynote sessions, and then students will have options to build out the rest of their individual schedules, following their interests through the Learn, Remember and Take Action components of the programming.

Our two keynote sessions will feature

• Howard Reich, author, journalist and filmmaker, who will tell the story of his mother, Sonia Reich, a Holocaust Survivor, how he discovered her story, and connections to the history of Skokie, where he grew up and where neo-Nazis tried to march in the 1970s.
• Kizito Kalima, a Rwanda Genocide Survivor, who will tell his incredible, painful and uplifting story and the work he now does as Founder/Executive Director of Peace Center for Forgiveness & Reconciliation.  (Mr. Kalima will also be speaking at HPHS.) 

In addition, DHS will offer the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center's Virtual Reality experience, The Journey Back.  Students will have to sign up ahead of time to have access to the VR goggles in the DHS Library.

This annual event is made possible through the generous sponsorship of the District 113 Foundation and a grant from the DHS PTO, as well as the support of the District 113 administration and Board of Education. 

This page will be updated closer to the event.  We encourage you to explore the rest of the pages in the meantime.