SPOKANE, Wash. — On the night of her 101st birthday, Carla Peperzak, was surprised with the announcement of a Anne Frank Tree sapling set to be planted at Peperzak Middle School in the spring of 2025.
After working on and off with the Anne Frank Foundation over the last four years, Carla was unsure if this opportunity would happen in the first place.
Carla says when she was younger, she actually knew the Frank family and was friends with Anne's sister, Margot. During World War 2, at just 18 years old, she joined the Dutch resistance to help her family and other Jews from being captured by Nazis.
Now, a piece of that history and the tree that Anne Frank wrote about in her diary will grow here in Spokane.
"It's just so very very special it's hard to explain what a tree means but it's very important to me," Peperzak said.
Peperzak Middle School Principal, Andre Wicks, says like Carla this sapling will grow and continue to inspire everyone in the community to be their best selves.
Wicks says that in its first year of operation, Peperzak Middle School has been recognized statewide for its thriving culture.
"We view our students as saplings," Wicks said. "They are newly rooted in the world around them and we have the opportunity. It really is an opportunity to be gardeners of these student saplings."
"A handful of people can make it very bad for other people but hopefully it (the sapling) brings the goodness out in other people and that is what the school is trying to do and I think that is very important," Peperzak said.
Carla tells KREM 2 that her next book is set to be released in the next few months.