Charleroi students send message of love

Charleroi Area Middle School teacher Chad Pappasergi has one hope for his students: to become better, caring people through his lessons. That hope was confirmed recently when his students showed their compassion for others following the Oct. 27 massacre at Squirrel Hill’s Tree of Life synagogue that left 11 people dead.

Pappasergi takes time to talk about current events with his seventh-grade social studies students.

After the tragedy in Squirrel Hill, Pappasergi thought it would be appropriate to talk about what happened since it was so close to home.

“I try to teach my students to become better people inside and outside of the classroom,” Pappasergi said. “That is my main goal everyday.”

To show their support, about a week after the shooting he asked his students what they thought about making a poster for the synagogue.

“They loved the idea and got really excited about being a part of something like that,” he said. “My rule of thumb is that if it is on the news it is acceptable to talk about in class, so I wanted to make sure it was not something we overlooked.”

The project was completed Nov. 16 when a group of students took the lead on the design.

Students Jake Beveridge, Arlo McIntyre, Bella Carroto, Ella Boehmer, Mekenzie Walsh, Zoe Duhon, Jaheim Payne, Chris Byron, Braden Simala, Amelia Downer, Marissa Stiffy and Ainsley Hatalowich helped with the design.

The poster features the Pittsburgh skyline and bridges and the words “Stronger than Hate” painted using all 130 of the students’ fingerprints. In the sky behind the buildings, students faintly wrote their names.

He said while few of his students had a background in Jewish culture, they embraced and understood what they were doing was important because it shared the message they are always taught: to be good people.

“Not a lot of my students had a background in the culture, but I tried to give them some basic information to learn about who they were doing this for.”

Pappasergi delivered the poster to the synagogue Nov. 19 — in the midst of the outdoor memorial being dismantled.

“It was a surreal experience for me,” he said. “As they were taking apart the memorial, I ran into a few people and unraveled the poster and everyone became very emotional. They could not thank us enough and the look on their faces were just astonished that a group of 12 and 13 year olds were able to make an impact like that.”

On Friday, students Ella, Bella, Arlo and Ainsley Hatolowich took a few moments to talk about why the project was so important.

Ella said she liked the idea almost immediately.

“I feel like this was not an idea that would usually be thought about in a school,” she said. “A lot of the times most schools tend to shelter people from what actually goes on and I feel like because everything that was going on wasn’t sugar coated it allowed us to realize what was happening and to help.” For Arlo, it was more personal.

“I was really happy to help because a few of my friends live down there,” he said. “The day that it happened we were leaving for a soccer tournament and a few of them couldn’t leave because they had to hide in their basements. Two of my friends live about two blocks away.”

Ainsley said the project was important for several reasons.

“I think it was important because this was our community and something that happened around us,” she said. “We need to get involved in things happening nearby us.”

While the gesture was simple, Bella said the student’s main hope is to make sure the people of Squirrel Hill know that they care.

“We just wanted to show them that we care and are thinking about what they are going through and that we are here to support them,” she said.

Ella said the project helped them realize what is happening in the world around them and the importance of taking action.

Pappasergi said this is the first time his class has taken on such an important project.

“It felt right to do because it was so close to home,” Pappasergi said. “Like Arlo said, his friends were affected by this. It felt like the right opportunity to get involved because even though they might not know us, it is important to do something because we need to become better people as a society, as a class and as a grade.”

Ainsley said it was an big opportunity. “It was the first time we have done something big like this to give back and show how much we care,” she said. “We are here and we care. Doing something like this was really inspiring for us because we were able to do something for people who needed it.” Pappasergi said he could not be prouder of his students.

“There is something really special about this grade as a whole,” he said. “Unlike classes I have taught before this grade, they want to make people feel good about themselves. They want to try help one another and their community.”

The project embodied everything he hopes for his students.

“I don’t care if they learn a lick off of me,” Pappasergi said. “Other math and English teachers may think differently, but for me it is about molding them to be better people so they can look back and know they were apart of something special.”