The Holocaust Education Center of CUJF brings together a small group of local educators and Jewish community members, whose mission it is to provide resources, speakers, and professional development opportunities for local teachers as they strive to meet the Illinois State Mandate for teaching the Holocaust and contemporary genocide (please click here for full text of the 1990 and revised 2006 mandate). In addition to our Holocaust Trunk Project (free loan of classroom materials for area teachers), we also provide professional development opportunities for all teachers in ROE 9 and 54, including funding for conferences and presentations, online learning experiences, local speakers sharing stories of family involvement during the Holocaust, and opportunities to share student work online and in person. Over the past twenty years, this group has organized and presented numerous workshops in Champaign and Urbana schools utilizing our local experts, as well as inviting national organizations to present including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Jewish Partisans Education Foundation (JPEF), and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM).
Who's involved?
Presently, the members of the HEC include area teachers Bob Lehmann, Rebecca Lawson, Valerie Prescott along with Jewish community members William Gingold, Robin Goettel, Yael Gertner, Katherine Coyle, and Don Francisco. I have served as the chair for this group since the late 1990’s and am a retired teacher/professor of social studies education. I have recently completed my training to serve as a mentor/facilitator for the ADL’s Echoes and Reflections Holocaust and Genocide education programs. While the lineup of committee members has changed a little over the past twenty years, the group remains committed to providing services to the community that will enhance the quality of meaningful instruction as teachers address the difficult task of teaching and learning about the Holocaust and contemporary genocide.
What are the benefits to our Jewish Community?
Over the years, we have served dozens of area teachers by providing guidance, free use of classroom materials, and numerous opportunities to enhance their own learning by way of online coursework, seminars, and interactive workshops. Currently, one of our members (Bob) organized and is still co-conducting a three-session Zoom conference addressing the needs of meeting the state mandate for teaching the Holocaust and genocide. The Zoom conferences began in August and will conclude later in January. Fifteen area teachers will have spent fifteen hours participating in these sessions, as presenters from Gratz College and USHMM share their expertise. In addition, all participants are required to complete a lesson or unit plan based on their new learning, which will be shared on the HEC website. In this way, the HEC has made resources available to all community members in the hopes of advancing the cause of Holocaust education. Our continued hope is that more members of the Jewish community will use the resources of the HEC to spark their own interests and understanding of the Holocaust. We are currently working to connect the Jewish community with a wide array of resources addressing the current state of antisemitism in the United States and the world at large.
Has Holocaust Education changed over the years?
The initial state mandate (1991) only addressed the teaching of the Holocaust. Few guidelines were given and there was no local or national curriculum to follow. The mandate was expanded in 2006 to include other examples of genocide such as Cambodia, Rwanda, Armenia, and Bosnia. Still, there has been no additional guidance from the state; teachers largely depend on organizations such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Illinois Holocaust Museum, the Anti-Defamation League, and Yad Vashem for guidance in planning and preparation of meaningful classroom learning experiences. It has been our experience that many teachers are driven by their own passion and resourcefulness as they approach this difficult topic. As stated previously, the primary goal of the HEC continues to be providing resources and guidance for local educators, parents, and students. The knowledge of these events continues to grow as time passes and the real challenge for educators remains to attempt to keep current on new information being published. Today, there is a much greater emphasis on using primary source documents/materials in the classroom, including a vast amount of first-hand accounts available on the USHMM websiteand through the Shoah Foundation’s program I Witness.