Students from the GEAR UP Program Visit USC

Holocaust survivor Renée Firestone, sharing her story with students from Mission Hills High School of San Marcos.

Students from the GEAR UP program at Mission Hills High School listening to Holocaust survivor Renée Firestone.

Group photo taken with students from GEAR UP, with Holocaust survivor Renée Firestone.

On November 23, 2009, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute hosted a group of 50 students from the GEAR UP program in San Marcos, California. GEAR UP is designed to help high school students prepare and plan for their college education. In addition to receiving a tour of the USC campus, students spent nearly two hours learning about the Institute's educational mission and listening to Renée Firestone, a Holocaust survivor whose testimony is in the Institute archive. Ms. Firestone spoke with the students about her experiences growing up in the former Czechoslovakia, her family's deportation to Auschwitz, and her life in Los Angeles. Students then had the opportunity to ask Ms. Firestone questions before taking a group photo.

Album posted on: December 2, 2009