On August 2-6, a dozen educators from Oregon will gather in Portland to participate in a week-long seminar focused on teaching the Holocaust, and explore ways to integrate instruction on racial and ethnic discrimination in Oregon. The seminar takes place as hate-fueled extremism and attacks on minorities have reached alarming levels in the United States.
“Lessons from the Past: Understanding the Holocaust and Human Rights Violations” enables collaboration among teachers to develop classroom strategies to help students understand how the past affects the present and find their voices in speaking out for social justice.
The program is sponsored by The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights, which organizes professional development programs for teachers around the country. In 2019 Oregon became one of 13 states to pass a law that schools must provide instruction to “prepare students to confront the immorality of the Holocaust, genocide, and other acts of mass violence and to reflect on the causes of related historical events.”
The program will include hearing from survivor testimonies, a visit to the Japanese American Museum of Oregon and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, a tour of the Oregon Holocaust Memorial, and a visit to the local synagogue. The seminar is led by educators Rob Hadley and Carrie McCallum.
For more information, visit toli.us/satellite-program/oregon.
