It only takes a spark to get a fire going. That truism applied to the "paperclip campaign" which originated ten years ago. From promoting a commemoration of Holocaust victims in her classroom, the campaign has expanded across the nation-and beyond. Several years ago, Sharyn Markus was teaching Language Arts at Timberview Middle School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During a literature-based unit on the Holocaust, she read a blurb in the Colorado Springs Business Journal. The blurb, entitled "When Wearing a Paperclip Was a Crime," mentioned that during WWII, Norwegians wore paperclips on their collars as a symbol of being against Nazism.

At the same time, Markus and her students were looking for an inexpensive method to commemorate the Holocaust victims. Therefore, she suggested to her students that they wear paperclips on their collars to honor the Holocaust victims and to state publicly that each person is responsible to ensure that such atrocities do not happen again. Students also were assigned to research the validity of Norwegians wearing paperclips.

The campaign expanded in subsequent years to incorporate the entire student body and then the entire district. By the third year, Markus held a poster contest for an official logo, and Josh Sie designed the logo used today and granted copying rights for her to print the poster for future campaigns. Students also wanted to send information to their friends at other schools, so a letter writing campaign was initiated. From there, it snowballed.

When she transferred to Mountain Ridge Middle School, she took the "paperclip campaign" with her. By that time, the students had had several articles and a feature story printed in local newspapers and TV interviews.

In 1998, Teaching Tolerance magazine ran a small article announcing the commemoration of Holocaust victims by wearing a paperclip. From that article, she heard from schools and organizations around the country. Faith Lapidus of Voice of America interviewed students with the radio broadcast aired in countries around the world. That, too, was the first year they asked people to let them know whether they participated. The poster is also part of the teaching center materials at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Up to this point, the campaign had been funded privately. In 1999, Mountain Ridge's parent organization, PAWS, awarded a grant to fund the campaign. Lewan and Associates also contributed. Today Academy School District Twenty pays for the postage, and private donations cover the printing costs.

Being a Do Something coach, Markus also contacted the national Do Something organization to ask them to incorporate the Paperclip Campaign into their program, which they have done.

Markus said that she is generally pleased with the expansion of the program, although she doesn't understand why everyone doesn't endorse it. "I'm such a believer in the value of the message that I'd like to see it become widespread. The beauty of the program lies in its simplicity and affordability, particularly for schools since most secondary schools already teach the lessons of the Holocaust and since the message of tolerance can't be overstated. I'd like to see schools and communities all across the country participate and, more importantly, to practice tolerance.

"For continued growth, we need to apply for more grants and to develop a web site where schools and organizations can register online."

Since the campaign would not have been possible without all of her past students, she asked that they be thanked and credited.