LMS teachers attend Holocaust education training
Erin Minero and Petrina Pappas, language arts teachers at Lawrence Middle School (LMS), recently participated in the Master Teacher Institute's intensive, week-long course, "History of the Holocaust," sponsored by the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life at Rutgers University.
They received training in the Holocaust education resource "Echoes and Reflections," which integrates Holocaust education into classroom settings with modular, interdisciplinary lessons and extensive print and digital resources leveled for middle and high school. This resource includes access to hundreds of digitized survivor testimonies. In addition, they viewed James Moll's documentary "The Last Days," a documentary comprised of the narratives of five Hungarian Jews who survived the death camps. A variety of scholars discussed inherent themes such as the complicity of neighbors, choiceless choices, international response, justice and accountability, restitution and compensation, and rescue and moral responsibility, to name a few. Educational Consultant Colleen Tambuscio led teachers in debriefing information and resources as they brainstormed how to create, alter and augment their Holocaust lessons and units.
Holocaust education impacts thousands of students and Rutger's MTI program offers advanced study of the Holocaust and its aftermath so New Jersey's districts and students are equipped to think critically about the past and its impact on the present, and our students' ability to impact the future as enlightened citizens.