I

n the pouring rain on April 4, 2017, 
Liza Wiemer drove to Oswego, New 
York, wearing knit boots totally 
unsuited for the conditions. Days earlier, 
she had traveled from her hometown of 
Milwaukee to the Syracuse area on the 
invitation of Wendy Watts Scalfaro, a 
library media specialist and an acquain-
tance she knew only virtually. 
 Scalfaro asked Wiemer to conduct a 
workshop for her high school students 
about her Young Adult novel, Hello? 
With the workshop complete, her next 
destination was River’s End Bookstore 
for a book signing Watts Scalfaro also 
arranged. 
Because of the rain, Wiemer left extra 
early. In need of caffeine, she stopped at 
a grocery store, but the flooded parking 
lot prevented her from going inside. She 
turned to her phone and Facebook to 
pass the time.
That is when she saw an article shared 
by her aunt on Facebook. A post that 
forever altered Wiemer’s life.
In all capital letters, Wiemer’s aunt 
wrote, “WHAT JUST HAPPENED????? 
NY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS 
WERE GIVEN AN ASSIGNMENT 
TO ARGUE IN FAVOR OF 
EXTERMINATING JEWS!”
The article was titled, Homework? NY 
Students Debate Exterminating Jews. This 
immediately caught Wiemer’s attention, 
and she opened the link to read, “
A 
teacher from Oswego County, New York, 
in February gave an assignment asking 

Liza Wiemer 
on Assignment

ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY YEVGENIYA GAZMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Young Adult author brings message of 
standing up for others around the globe.

Carla Chennault, ADL Michigan director of education, author 
Liza Wiemer and Amira Soleimani, Hillel Day School director of 
Judaic Studies Curriculum and Instruction. 

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