Daffodils: bright, beautiful, yellow flowers that bloom around springtime. However, at Country Day, it is not just their beauty that makes them special. Daffodils have come to symbolize something much larger than a reminder of spring.

According to its mission statement: “The Daffodil Project aspires to build a worldwide Living Holocaust Memorial by planting 1.5 million Daffodils in memory of the children who perished in the Holocaust and in support for children suffering in humanitarian crises in the world today.” 

The project plants daffodils because the flowers’ shape and color represent the yellow stars that Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust. 

Also according to the project’s website: “Yellow is the color of remembrance. Daffodils represent our poignant hope for the future. They are resilient and return with a burst of color each spring, signifying hope, renewal and beauty. The daffodils also honor those who survived the Holocaust and went on to build new lives after this dark and difficult period.”

Here at Country Day, freshmen participate in the project annually and plant daffodils in the garden next to the field hockey field, building a living memorial for Holocaust survivors. Now, Jessica Tomasic ‘23 helps organize and lead the project in collaboration with the Goldman family, the 9th grade English teachers, and Plant Ops.

“The Daffodil Project inspired me when I participated as a freshman, so I was more than happy to assist in its continuation when I was asked,” Tomasic said. “Everyone involved, especially Plant Ops and the Goldman family, was extremely patient and helpful while I was figuring everything out.”

She gave a presentation on the project before the freshmen planted the daffodil bulbs on October 14. The plaque at the garden holds the mission statement of the project.

The freshmen participate in the project in coordination with their reading of the 1960 memoir, Night by Elie Wiesel. Night is based on Wiesel’s Holocaust experiences with his father in the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in 1944-1945. The students will read it in the spring for their English classes.

“I am excited to see the daffodils bloom in the spring while we are reading Night,” Reesie Packer ‘25 said.

The FWCD chapter of the organization was started by Grace Goldman ‘18 in 2017, making it the first chapter of the project in North Texas. Since then, TVS has also started a chapter, and Bethel Synagogue has also begun planting daffodils.

“It was a very insightful experience to reach out to various community members and ask for their help with the project,” Goldman said. “It was also just really cool to see the garden come together over the next few months.”

She gave a presentation about her family heritage because her great-grandmother was a Holocaust survivor. It is now supported by the Goldman family. 

“Overall the project was a way for me to honor my heritage while sharing the experience with the Country Day community,” Goldman said. 

The FWCD community will be able to remember those lost in the Holocaust this spring when the beautiful yellow flowers begin to bloom. 

For more information about the Daffodil Project, visit their website at https://www.daffodilproject.net/