Students of Maureen Detrick, of Leonardtown, Md., a teacher at Father Andrew White S.J. School in Leonardtown, will be getting some valuable lessons this coming school year in learning the Holocaust as a result of their teacher having completed top-notch training this summer from educators of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Detrick was one of more than 200 participants who attended the 18th annual Arthur and Rochelle Belfer National Conference for Educators, an invitation-only three-day workshop for teachers hosted by the Museum in mid-July.
The conference is a vital part of the Museum’s ongoing effort to equip educators throughout the country with the knowledge and skills to effectively bring Holocaust education in their classrooms.
Every year, the Museum trains hundreds of teachers through training programs held in Washington and around the country. It provides these teachers with advanced tools and teaching materials for students of history, English, social studies, language arts, library science, journalism and more.
“In the face of rising antisemitism and Holocaust denial, educating students about this history is becoming increasingly urgent,” says Peter Fredlake, director of the Museum’s teacher education and special programs. “As the global leader in Holocaust education, the Museum works to ensure teachers have the training and resources they need to introduce their students to this important and complex history — and show them how its lessons remain relevant to all citizens today.”
At the conference, the participants teamed up with Museum educators and scholars in sharing rationales, strategies and approaches for teaching about the Holocaust, Nazi propaganda and antisemitism by using various media such as literature, survivor testimony and diaries that the Museum provides. They toured the Museum’s permanent exhibition, as well as the special exhibitions Some Were Neighbors: Collaboration & Complicity in the Holocaust, Remember the Children: Daniel’s Story and From Memory to Action: Meeting the Challenge of Genocide. They heard from Holocaust survivors and Museum volunteers Nesse Godin, who shared her testimony about the experience of surviving a ghetto, a concentration camp, four labor camps and a death march; and David Bayer, who escaped into the forest where he was liberated by Russian soldiers after enduring slave labor and medical experimentation in Auschwitz.
Once the participants completed the program, they received a set of educational materials and a voucher worth $100 to buy Holocaust-related materials in the Museum shop.
The Museum promotes the responsible teaching of the Holocaust by providing training and support materials to secondary educators of all levels of experience nationwide. Teachers with five or more years of experience in Holocaust education may participate in the intensive, five-day Museum Teacher Fellowship program held each summer. In addition, the Museum’s Regional Education Corps is a dedicated and growing team of 40 advanced Holocaust educators who provide training to other teachers around the country in engaging students with Holocaust history.
The Museum’s website, www.ushmm.org, provides resources at no cost to educators, including a range of online training modules, exemplary lesson plans and extensive historical information about the Holocaust.
For more information about the conference or to arrange an interview with one of this year’s participants or organizers, please contact Raymund Flandez at (202) 314-1772 or rflandez@ushmm.org.
About the Program
Established in 1993, the Arthur and Rochelle Belfer National Conference for Educators brings hundreds of middle, high school and community college teachers to Washington, D.C., each summer to train them in effectively teaching the Holocaust to their students. The Museum gives participants a chance to interact with its scholars and educators to reinforce their understanding of Holocaust history and to figure out successful strategies in bringing the lessons of the Holocaust to their classrooms. The conference is funded in part by the Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Foundation.
About the Museum
A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by generous donors. For more information, visit www.ushmm.org.