NEW MEADOWS, Idaho - It was this time last year when someone vandalized the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial in Boise.
That act was something students more than 100 miles away in New Meadows couldn't believe.
"It just like hit us deep in the heart," said 8th grader Sydney Weber.
Around the same time vandals defaced the memorial in Boise, the New Meadows students were learning about the Holocaust.
"We were reading Anne's diary," said their teacher Devon Barker-Hicks. "They were very connected to this story. And we had been studying about the Holocaust and other genocides and to have somebody deface the memorial in Boise it just really struck them."
The class wanted to make a difference and do something positive after the vandalism and to stand up to discrimination.
"We're showing our respect, and the people who are helping us showed their respect," Weber said. "We're basically just giving back to the community."
They decided to create their own memorial to honor Anne Frank, Holocaust victims, and those who fought in World War II.
"We were brainstorming. We came up with getting a rock that's local from here, and getting it engraved with one of her quotes and putting it out here," student Alden Fisher said.
For months the students worked on the design, getting the project approved by the city council and fundraising.
"I'm so inspired by them," Barker-Hicks said. "The project just kind of kept getting bigger, but every step of the way they just kept rising to the challenge."
Now their memorial is complete and on display at the city's only park, Dorsey Warr Memorial Park.
The students are proud and excited about all they've accomplished.
"We just went for it and we achieved it," Weber said. "I want people to believe that they can do this."
"It's right on the highway, so a lot of people could see it," Fisher said. "It's there and it should be there for a long time. So it should lead through future generations and we'll be able to come back and say we did that."