Western Reserve Exhibit To Have Lakewood High Connection

Lakewood High will be well represented in a nationally acclaimed exhibit on tolerance coming to the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS) this month. LHS teacher Joe Lobozzo has been invited to speak at the opening gala for the Choosing to Participate Exhibit October 21 at the Historical Society. The traveling multimedia exhibition, which opens to the public October 22, has won nationwide praise for encouraging people of all ages to consider the consequences of their everyday choices and inspire them to make a difference in their communities. The exhibit helps visitors explore issues of prejudice, racism and compassion.

The exhibit is produced by the educational non-profit Facing History and Ourselves, which provides curricular material for classroom teachers throughout the country. Lobozzo has been using the organization’s tools and resources, such as videos and books, in his Human Rights & Conflict class as well as his 10th grade U.S. History courses. Each year, Facing History asks a teacher to speak at its annual benefit, which this year will serve as the exhibit’s opening gala as well.

“I am very honored and excited” to speak on behalf of Facing History and Lakewood High, Lobozzo said.

“Joe embodies the spirit of what we want for our Facing History teachers to do: be engaging, thoughtful and challenging to the kids,” said Mark Swaim-Fox, director of the Cleveland office of Facing History.

Besides Lobozzo, Lakewood High will be recognized in other ways as well at the exhibit. The school’s Race and Diversity Club (RAD), for which Mr. Lobozzo is the adviser, will be featured in one of two local components that has been added to the exhibit for its time in Cleveland. The RAD Club will be part of a feature called “Upstanders: Portraits of Courage,”  which highlights in photographs people or groups who have chosen to make a positive stand on behalf of others in large and small ways.

A short video of a RAD Club discussion and Lobozzo’s Human Rights class shot by a West Coast media group that produces a series call “Not in Our Schools,” which highlights acts of tolerance in schools across the country, will also be shown at the opening gala.

The exhibit, which travels to Washington D.C. next and already has made stops in Boston, Chicago, New York, Memphis, Los Angeles and San Francisco, will be WRHS  through February 26. For more info go to www.choosingtoparticipate.org.