Holocaust Education Week: Educators Workshop - November 6, 2014
Norman Conard, director of the Irena Sendler Foundation based out of Ft. Scott, Kansas, shared the life and legacy of Irena Sendler. Irena helped over 500 children escape the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942, and secured their lives and futures through her actions. She and 24 other social workers, dressed as nurses, removed children from their homes and orphanages and hid them in Polish homes, orphanages, and convents. Irena then put the names of all the children in jars and buried the jars under an apple tree in Warsaw. Those jars were dug up after the war, and an attempt was made to reunite the children with their parents. However, most of the parents of these children did not survive; they had been taken to the Treblinka death camp where they perished.
Irena Sendler's story was not known until 1999. Norman Conrad, then a high school history teacher, encouraged his students to embrace diversity through a history project. His classroom motto was: "He who changes one person, changes the world entire." Three students began a yearlong project which involved research into the life of Irena Sendler, using primary sources. The project resulted in the creation of a play entitled ' Life in a Jar' which has been shown worldwide. A Hallmark movie was made of the story, and a book written with the same title.
Mr. Conard is also the director of the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes. He shared stories of unsung heroes, and shared ideas of how these stories can be uncovered and used to inspire students as well as promote tolerance and teach critical thinking skills. He stressed the value of project-based learning, and how during this process, students become teachers, and the teacher becomes the facilitator.
Edna LeVine, Director of Community Engagement at the Atlantic Jewish Council, shared resources that the Azrieli Foundation in Toronto have developed. Resources include survivor memoirs as well as Voices into Action, a free online educational program that addresses social justice issues which can be integrated into the curriculum.
This was a very powerful and helpful workshop. We were given several books donated by the Azrieli Foundation to bring back to use with our learners.
Mary Moore
Level 2 Classroom Instructor