This spring at Centennial High School in Roswell, 1,250 daffodils are in bloom surrounding the flagpole at the front of the school. Centennial is the only high school in Fulton County Schools to participate in The Daffodil Project, an international organization that supplies daffodil bulbs to schools and other organizations for planting. The goal of The Daffodil Project is to plant 1.5 million daffodils around the world to represent the 1.5 million children whose lives were lost during the Holocaust, and to support children facing humanitarian crises today.
"Our students enjoy our diverse population," said Centennial Principal Keynun Campbell. "As we went through this project it wasn't specific just to one culture or religion, but how do we use this to catapult a sense of kindness, love and helpfulness, and recognizing others. The hope was that this can spread a sense of kindness and caring. Every year [it] will get larger and larger."
The Daffodil Project at Centennial involves a cross-section of people twice a year, including members of the Webb Bridge Middle School community. Each fall, students, parents, teachers and others plant the bulbs. In the spring when the daffodils are in bloom, there is a ceremony to celebrate and remember.
"We find it very important for middle school students to participate in the project in sixth grade, to align with their study of World War II and the Holocaust," said Lisa E. Scaun, Webb Bridge Middle School ESOL teacher and North Fulton Daffodil Project volunteer. "What we're trying to achieve when a middle school participates in the project in sixth grade is that they then go to high school and participate again in ninth grade, providing a seamless transition and ownership of the issue, the problem, and are working toward the solution."
On March 2 Centennial hosted its third annual Spring Blooming Ceremony, and speakers included the founder of The Daffodil Project, Dr. Andrea Videlefsky, Holocaust survivor Hershel Greenblat, North Fulton daffodil ambassador Lisa Winokur and Jewish Student Union Executive Director Rabbi Chaim Neiditeh.
According to Centennial Assistant Principal Ashley Barker, the project helps bring awareness to the Holocaust and other tragedies and fits well with social studies world history standards. Barker is the organizer of The Daffodil Project at Centennial.
"It's a cool way to get a bit of relatability to history," he said. "It's more real instead of just an idea of the Holocaust. It brings to life the stories of some of the people who were lost during World War II."
Eventually, the full island around the flagpole will be filled each spring with daffodil blooms.
Said Barker, "We think it's a perfect fit. It's one of the things we want to continue to increase the number of parents and community members at the spring ceremony. The more it grows, the more people will ask questions."
Other Fulton County Schools participating in The Daffodil Project are:
- Fast School – Fulton Academy of Science and Technology
- Haynes Bridge Middle School
- Webb Bridge Middle School
To learn more about The Daffodil Project, visit https://www.daffodilproject.net/.
Original source can be found here.
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