Bluffton's Cross Schools hosts Anne Frank history exhibit

Cross Schools is hosting a history exhibit this month on the life of Anne Frank. 

“Anne Frank — A History for Today” is on display through Sept. 30. The school said it will be open to the public from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Sept. 27. 

The school said the exhibit “has traveled all over the world and is presented more than 300 times per year.” 

The exhibit tells the story of Frank, a teenager whose diary documenting her family’s hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II was published in the 1950s. It includes 31 story panels that detail her life, a news release said. 

Before the exhibit opened last week, 15 members of Cross Schools’ Archivists Club went through two days of training “learning about the background to the exhibition; how they can communicate its content to people of their own age and how they can introduce more general themes such as tolerance and discrimination.” 

Those students will act as guides during the exhibit, which is “primarily aimed at students from 11 to 18 years old.” 

“By building on strong foundational knowledge about history and events that shaped our present, our club members are well-equipped to participate in this event,” said Heather Brougham-Cook, the club’s teacher mentor. “Experiences like this act as windows to the world for students, helping them develop empathetic responses to current events in their lives.” 

The release said the Anne Frank Partnership presenting the exhibit is sponsored by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and the University of South Carolina’s College of Education Anne Frank Project. 

“The Anne Frank Partnership has been working since 2015 to create globally and socially aware students in South Carolina classrooms,” it said. 

Reservations are required for the public to view the exhibit Sept. 27. Attendees can register at crossschools.org or by calling 843-706-2000. Space is limited, the school said.