LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – On the evening of Oct. 8, the Anne Frank L.A. exhibit opened to families, teachers, administrators, students and community members at Los Alamitos High School’s College and Career Center. The exhibit continues the legacy of Anne Frank and promotes the powerful message of hope and tolerance in the face of hate. 

The guest speakers

The event opened with guest speaker Erin Gruwell, author of “The Freedom Writers’ Diary,” an inspiration for the movie adaptation “Freedom Writers.” She spoke about how being a teacher working with at-risk youth inspired her educational activism. 

Gruwell recalled the moment that motivated her to fight against discrimination, a student-drawn caricature targeting another one of her students.

From that point, her students’ lives changed. They wanted to make a difference and “write themselves into existence.” They poured their experiences and dreams into a film that Gruwell envisioned as raw and organic. 

“We wanted our story to feel as real and relevant and ready as it actually was, and to do so, we didn’t want to hire adults who were 37 pretending they were 14. We wanted real kids, the real kids that you have as docents here,” she said.

The audience was shown a short snippet of “Freedom Writers” where images of teenagers — one lying in bed with scraps of orange peels on the nightstand, one leaning against a locker with one leg propped out, two riding the crowded bus surrounded by strangers  played. These brief moments of ordinary life all had one common denominator: “The Diary of Anne Frank” was in their hands. Audio of the teenagers reading lines from the diary accompanied these visuals, narrating their progress through Anne’s time in the annex.

After the clip from “Freedom Writers” played, Tony Becerra, recipient of the Spirit of Anne Frank Award, shared his experience and involvement in the Anne Frank exhibit.

“I always say the ghetto is not a place that you drive to or drive by,” Becerra said. “The ghetto is the chains that are wrapped around your mind that don’t allow you to think and include the entire world. Once we start seeing the world bigger and seeing it for what it is, I feel like it becomes so much easier to live in.”

He then introduced the audience to Sofia Shields, who began Anne Frank L.A. with her parents to honor her grandparents, survivors of the Holocaust. Shields led the awards ceremony, where LAHS student docents were handed awards by the Shields family for their participation. 

Sydney Forsyte, the LAHS senior behind bringing the Anne Frank exhibit to LAHS, was recognized for her kindness, enthusiasm and incredible devotion to her work.

The exhibit

Gallery • 5 Photos

Leonard Rosa

Guests viewing a gallery at the Anne Frank exhibit.

Takeaways

LAHS’s principal, Mrs. Kraus, was one of the evening’s attendees.

“Anne Frank’s story is about collective care and community, the impact that can transcend internationally and worldwide and how it still is meaningful and purposeful. It brings the story of humanity, overcoming and seeing hope and thinking about our lives,” she said.

Gruwell also emphasized the exhibit’s impact on the importance of embracing difficult topics with open minds.

Harvey Shields, who founded Anne Frank L.A. with his wife and daughter, explained the benefits of training as one of the exhibit’s docents.

“We found that students are much more attentive when they’re with other students than they would be if it was their teachers,” he said. “(Docents) themselves develop skills of leadership and advocacy in presenting, and these skills are standards. Students we teach (are going to) benefit from those skills as they go through right along.”

Student inspiration

Forsyte’s dedicated work has created a path for more Griffins to follow. Principal Kraus acknowledged that in the future, students may want to bring their own background and perspective to the high school scene.

“Creating those experiences and opportunities are something that we are always looking for, and we really are looking to support more students to bring those elements to our school because I think that brings a lot of ownership,” Principal Kraus said. 

Even years after Anne’s passing, her message continues to resonate with educators like Gruwell and students like Forsyte. Anne’s legacy exists in her words, rather than weapons.

The exhibit will continue to be on display in the Media Center from Oct. 14-25 during lunch and nutrition.