For the fourth year in a row, the Anne Frank Initiative (AFI), an International Programs affinity group, welcomed more than 200 eighth-grade students from Clear Creek Amana (CCA) Community School District to the University of Iowa (UI) campus on Wednesday, May 20. Students spent half a day delving into Anne Frank’s legacy through interactive learning activities on campus.

“Bringing local middle school students onto a university campus creates a powerful bridge between aspiration and experience,” said Kirsten Kumpf Baele; distinguished associate professor of instruction in German in the UI Department of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures, and Cultures; and director of the AFI. “They get to feel UI’s energy, dynamism, and sense of connection, which allow them to envision themselves as part of that world. In this way, the CCA/AFI experience cultivates not only knowledge, but also possibility.”

Kevin Zihlman, associate director of research integrity and security in the UI Office of the Vice President for Research, and member of the AFI Advisory Committee, saw an opportunity for CCA to collaborate with the AFI in 2023, when his son was learning about World War II and Anne Frank in eighth grade. Four years later, the event continues to grow.

“Anne Frank was the age of our CCA students when she experienced unimaginable chaos in the world around her. She was able to find a way to express herself during those times and her words still matter 80 years later.”

“The AFI is starting to hear from other school districts around the area about the program we’ve been collaborating on with CCA,” Zihlman said. “The CCA collaboration has provided us a guide on how to supplement Anne Frank education with local students who are learning about World War II and the Holocaust in their school curriculum.”

Through thoughtfully designed breakout sessions on topics such as writing, cultural heritage, resistance, artificial intelligence, access to literature, the relationship between nature and well-being, and Anne Frank’s ongoing legacy, students engage in meaningful intellectual exploration while also discovering their own voices.

“We want the CCA students to know that their words and voices matter,” Zihlman said. “Anne Frank was the age of our CCA students when she experienced unimaginable chaos in the world around her. She was able to find a way to express herself during those times and her words still matter 80 years later.”

The half-day event ended with students visiting the Anne Frank sapling on the Pentacrest to learn about its significance and UI’s “tree campus” designation. The tree, a descendant of the one Anne Frank wrote about in her diary, served as a fitting symbol of remembrance.

Kay Ramey, assistant professor of learning sciences and educational psychology in the UI College of Education, who recently joined the AFI committee, facilitated one of the breakout sessions -- Anne Frank, Trees, Nature, and Well-being -- with the help of two Iowa students, Shefa’a Tawil and Ava McEntaffer.

“We brought students outside to the Anne Frank tree and facilitated a series of writing, drawing, and discussion activities reflecting what the tree meant to Anne and what nature means to them,” Ramey said. “My broader research focuses on community-engaged, arts-based, and nature-based learning, so the Anne Frank Initiative has provided a fantastic opportunity to collaborate on educational outreach events that engage young people in art, writing, and nature.”

CCA student Stella Daly participated in the Write for Identity breakout session and said it made her think about her own life and identity differently.

“When I think about my identity, there are things in my everyday life that I don’t really notice, but they shape who I am and my actions throughout life,” Daly said.

Ashur Whitmer, another CCA student, reflected on his experience on campus. 

“Being on campus made me feel more connected to the world because I was able to learn outside of my regular day-to-day life and talk to new people,” Whitmer said.

Organizers of this event included AFI Director Kirsten Kumpf Baele and AFI Advisory Committee member Kevin Zihlman; CCA eighth-grade teachers Tollie Lancaster, Christopher Hillyer, and Maxwell Ward; and other UI Faculty, Staff, and Students including Andrew Dahl, UI Arborist.

“Just because you are 13 or 14 years old, doesn’t mean you can’t begin to change the world around you for the better,” Zihlman said.

Learn more about the Anne Frank Initiative