USC Shoah Foundation, Discovery Education Keep History Alive

by cshirley

Discovery Education LogoIn commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in January 2015, Discovery Education and USC Shoah Foundation have selected 25 teachers from around the world to participate in Auschwitz: The Past is the Present, a global communications and education program in Poland designed to deepen educators’ understanding of the historical landscape of Poland before, during and after the Holocaust.

This unique educator development program is one element of the partnership’s education initiative and will provide teachers with a four-day workshop, as well as opportunities to meet Holocaust survivors prior to attending the commemoration ceremony at Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. During the program, several resources will be utilized, including IWitness, USC Shoah Foundation’s educational website that brings testimonies from survivors and witnesses of genocide, including the Holocaust, from the Institute’s Visual History Archive to secondary schools via multimedia learning activities. Interacting with testimony as a primary source in IWitness shows young people how the past informs our present and what this means to students today.

By working together, USC Shoah Foundation and Discovery Education strive to keep history alive for generations to come. Educators chosen for this event include:

  • Karen Wells, Midland High School, Midland School District, Pleasant Plains, Ark.
  • Laurie Schaefer, Mount Tabor High School, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, Winston Salem, N.C.
  • Soljane Quiles, Highlander Charter Middle/High School, Warren, R.I.
  • Laura Pritchard, Nansemond Suffolk Academy, Suffolk, Va.
  • Barbara Fowler, Turning Point Learning Center, Emporia, Kan.
  • Steven Howell, James A. Garfield High School, James A. Garfield Local School District, Garrettsville, Ohio
  • Jeannie Woods, Fort Payne Middle School, Fort Payne School District, Fort Payne, Ala.
  • Sabina Kobinski, Archbishop Molloy High School, Jamaica, N.Y.
  • Christa Calkins, Campbell-Savona Junior/Senior High School, Campbell-Savona Central School District, Campbell, N.Y.
  • Merinda Davis, Lakeridge Junior High School, Alpine School District, Orem, Utah.
  • Keith Stringfellow, Charlotte Islamic Academy, Charlotte, N.C.
  • Matthew Vincent, Bath County High School, Bath County School District, Owingsville, Ky.
  • Bobbie Downs, Burlington County Alternative High School, Burlington County Special Services School District, Pemberton, N.J.
  • Emily Bengels, Readington Middle School, Readington Township Public Schools, Whitehouse Station, N.J.
  • Tracy Sockalosky, Wilson Middle School, Natick Public Schools, Natick, Mass.
  • Ingrid Alexovics, Hungry Pecsi Radnoti Miklos Economic Secondary School, Pecs, Hungary.
  • Anna Krisztina Berecz, Liceul Teoretic, Odorheiu Seculesc, Romania
  • Christine Cole, Shepparton High School, Shepparton, Australia.
  • Miljenko Hajdarvoć, Cakovec High School, Cakovec, Croatia.
  • Larry Mikulcik, William Derby School, Strasbourg, Saskatchewan, Canada.
  • Adam Musial, Zespol Szkol Ogolnoksztalcacych Spolecznego Toiwarzystwa Oswiatowego, Krakow, Poland.
  • Steven Richardson, The Ripley Academy, Ripley, Derbyshire, United Kingdom.
  • Johanna Soderholm, Åbo Akademi University, Vaasa, Finland.
  • Daniela Vitaskova, Obchodní akademie a hotelová škola Třebíč, Trebic, Czech Republic
  • Davis Wamonhi, Kagarama Secondary School, Kigali, Rwanda.