Arcadia High School Teacher’s Qwest to Make History Relevant  Leads to Formation of Club STAND, Award from Daughters of the American Revolution

SCOTTSDALE – March 31, 2008 – Heather Demmons bristles when she hears someone call history “boring.” The Arcadia High School history teacher has experienced first hand just how relevant the subject can become in the lives of her students.

In at least one instance, Heather’s desire to make a historical topic relevant led to tremendous compassion inside her classroom as well as among the entire student body and community at Arcadia High School. 

During a class on World War II, Demmons sought to help her students fully understand the horrors of the Holocaust.  To make it more applicable to them, she discussed how genocides have occurred more recently in Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia and how atrocities are currently taking place in Darfur. This led to the creation of Club STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur). 

Demmons’ ability to inspire her students to action and make the subject relevant to their everyday lives has also led to her being recognized as Arizona’s Outstanding Teacher of American History by the Daughters of the American Revolution.  

“I created and implemented Club STAND with 15 of my students last year,” Demmons said.  “We were reading Elie Wiesel’s book Night during the Holocaust unit and I made the connection between the genocide in the 1940’s and the current genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

“I asked, ‘When we said Never Again after the Holocaust, was that meant for everyone?  How could we allow genocide to occur after the Holocaust in Cambodia, Yugoslavia and Rwanda?’”

Demmons continued the classroom discussion by asking her students what they were going to do that their ancestors didn’t to prevent current and future atrocities.

“This created a great discussion and led to one of the most successful clubs on campus,” Demmons said.

The 15 initial members of Club STAND mobilized the entire Arcadia campus to stand behind the victims in Darfur.  Over the course of seven months, the Arcadia community raised more than $10,000 through events such as t-shirt sales, dollar drives, concerts and other projects.  The funds have been donated to organizations such as Darfur Peace and Development.

The momentum has continued this year, with an additional $10,000 being raised.

“Watching my small group of students get the entire community together to support an issue so close to their heart has been inspiring,” Demmons said. “…It is reassuring to know that teenagers today will not stand by and watch something so inhumane take place half a world away.

“They have the ability to look outside their community and answer the cry for help in a place they cannot even imagine.  Their compassion has been contagious throughout our campus and community.”