Students of Seneca Valley Intermediate High School heard on Wednesday, Oct. 29, from survivors of the 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill, who not only recalled their experiences from the day, but also how it changed them.

Namely, the survivors and family members of some of the 11 people killed discussed combating antisemitism through the 10.27 Healing Partnership, a human services provider that began after the 2018 shooting. The panel of four people also talked about the people they lost in the shooting, and how their legacies are remembered through the survivors’ ensuing actions.

This was a powerful way to tell the story of the shooting that took place on Oct. 27, 2018 at the synagogue — an attack that killed 11 people and injured six. The four panelists were also speaking to sophomores at Seneca Valley, most of whom would have been around 7 and 8 years old at the time that the shooting took place. It’s a historic event they lived through, but probably don’t have much memory of.

As students learned about the tragedy, they created a butterfly mural as a tribute to the victims — a gesture of remembrance and hope. After the discussion, many of the students stayed to ask questions and speak with the panelists.

Students said that hearing from these panelists made the historic event that took place just a few dozen miles from their homes more personal, and showed the impact the shooting had on the people who were there and the community around them.

Seneca Valley School District has recently had a few speaking events like this one, opening up the eyes of students through first-person experience of historic events. It is good to know that the impact of that day have been passed on to a younger generation.

— ET