Holocaust Education Mobile Application
In partnership with the Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Education of North Carolina
THE CENTER FOR HOLOCAUST, GENOCIDE, AND HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION OF NORTH CAROLINA
(THE HOLOCAUST SPEAKERS BUREAU)
The Mission
The Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Education for North Carolina (Holocaust Speakers Bureau) assists local educators and organizations with teaching the challenging topics of the Holocaust, genocide, tolerance, and human rights. We work with teachers, schools, and organizations to develop age- appropriate materials and presentations for all students. We also offer an extensive resource library. Wherever possible, we arrange for survivors (and, in some cases, their liberators or children of survivors) to address classes and other groups.
The History
In Fall 2009, Sharon Halperin and Deborah Long met for the first time, thanks to the efforts of a friend in common. The mutual friend realized that Sharon and Deborah were both daughters of Holocaust survivors. At their first meeting, Deborah told Sharon about her lifelong efforts to find her mother and father's missing family members, and Sharon told her about her work keeping the lessons of the Holocaust alive. For years, Sharon had been getting phone calls from teachers seeking someone to talk to students about the Holocaust.
The following is Deborah's account about the inception of the Holocaust Speaker's Bureau:
We were both motivated to find more survivors, as well as World War II liberators, realizing that we were in a race against time. An article in the August 25, 2010 Chapel Hill News gave us the publicity we needed to come into contact with a number of survivors and liberators in our area. At an initial meeting in late 2010, eight survivors and one liberator came together to discuss the possible goals of a Holocaust speakers bureau.
The Progress
The Holocaust Speakers Bureau has visited hundreds of schools and spoken to thousands of students. We have produced documentary shorts on 5 of our survivors. Another documentary is in production.
A unique collaboration with the Civic Education Consortium, a program of the Humanities and Human Values at the University of North Carolina – Chapel (http://humanities.unc.edu/civics/), has produced lesson plans and classroom activities to accompany the documentaries.
School visits are customized so the presentations are age-appropriate and engaging. Traveling exhibits, books, maps, photographs and other resource material are offered to educators free of charge.
The response has been overwhelming – a record number of schools were visited by the HSB in the Spring of 2015. A workshop on best practices for teaching the Holocaust is planned for late Fall 2015.
Sharon Halperin
Co-Founder of Holocaust Speaker's Bureau
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I’M ALWAYS HAPPY
TO HEAR FROM TEACHERS, SCHOOLS, OR OTHERS