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Young, creative, and enthusiastic, Mr. Ross is Gordon High School’s “cool teacher,” and his major character traits make him a likely candidate for students to follow. That students also consider him to be “charismatic” is especially telling: The trait is often used to describe cult leaders and dictators such as Adolf Hitler who use their charisma to seduce large masses of people. Mr. Ross’s desire to teach students about the Holocaust shows his concern for humanity and his understanding that education is essential to help prevent history’s crimes from repeating. His ensuing decision to conduct a classroom experiment to simulate life in Nazi Germany, knowing it will be the only way students will find real answers regarding the Holocaust, reveals how dedicated he is to teaching. Despite all his wisdom, though, the experiment transforms Mr. Ross as much as it does his students. The promise of power, he learns, can seduce leaders and followers alike. Still, Mr. Ross never loses sight of his original intention to teach vital lessons about history and the darker side of human nature. He is a consummate teacher, concerned not only with making his students smarter but also wiser.

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