A student at École Innisfail Middle School has caught the attention of staff at the world-renowned Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
Ashley Arthur, 13, was inspired to create the five designs in artist’s pencil and Prismacolor pencils, after her Grade 8 Language Arts class studied The Diary of Anne Frank.
It was Arthur’s interpretation of some of the book’s classic passages that sparked Erin Baker, Arthur’s teacher, to submit the artwork to the museum. The museum responded shortly after with a request to obtain the art.
The school does not know whether Arthur’s artwork will be stored in the archives, or utilized in the museum’s various educational programs.
“I felt really touched by the story because I’m the same age as she was when she wrote it,” said Arthur in a news release. “There were many times in the book that we had the same thoughts and I admire how positive she was. She didn’t have any of the freedoms that we have, but even when she was terrified and in hiding she still thought that most people were really good at heart.”
The Diary of Anne Frank was first published 65 years ago, and is on the Language Arts curriculum list for Grade 8 students. The house in Amsterdam, which became her family’s hiding place during the Second World War has been a museum for over 50 years offering educational resources to teachers and students.
Baker said it requires a certain level of awareness and emotional maturity for students this age to be able to handle the subject matter, because they are harsh lessons.
“You can’t study The Diary of Anne Frank without discussing the horror and tragedy of the Holocaust, which is a disturbing topic for any age,” she said.
christi.albers-manicke@www.reddeeradvocate.com