2018 Fall Bearing Witness Magazine

he Education Team spent an incredible summer teaching and learning, doing Museum work, T Educators Abroad EDUCAT ION

EDUCAT ION

Our work with community partners continues to be fundamental to our outreach initiatives. On the morning of September 15, 2018, Holocaust Museum Houston and the Education Department presented three sessions to educators at the 2018 Houston Arts Partners Conference. The theme of the 2018 Conference, SYNERGY 2018: Highlighting Arts Partnerships for Students with Diverse Learning Needs, aligns well with HMH’s educational mission and vision. Sessions included: 1) Work with English Language Learners and children’s picture books to teach about Upstanders (presented by Wendy Warren, Laurie Garcia and Coach Sue Scheppele); 2) Using art as a tool with students affected by PTSD. During the session, participants learned from the experience of Friedl Dicker Brandeis an Austrian artist who worked with children in Theresienstadt and from Shane Koyzcan, a Canadian spoken word artist (presented by Dr. Hyman Penn, Rebecca Hopp/TUTS, and Mary Lee Webeck); and 3) Holocaust history (presented by Wendy Warren), working with musician and HMH community member Marci Sterling and her Klezmer musicians. Houston Arts Partners Conference

Drs. Emil and Anna Steinberger Teaching Excellence Award

traveling to historic sites and working with scholars to increase their understanding of the incredible, complex field in which they work. HMH CEO Dr. Kelly J. Zúñiga, Dr. Mary Lee Webeck, Wendy Warren, Alyssa Weinstein-Sears and docent Jerry Rochman attended Yad Vashem’s international conference in Jerusalem. After the conference, Alyssa and her husband Joe Weinstein-Sears, a teacher at the Emery-Weiner School, stayed for the International Seminar for Educators. Mary Lee Webeck went to Germany with the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous. Laurie Garcia went to Columbia University with the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous and Michelle Tovar attended the Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Teachers Program in Germany and Poland.

The Drs. Emil and Anna Steinberger Teaching Excellence Award was presented to HISD educator Coach Sue Scheppele for her incredible work promoting Holocaust education at the Wharton Dual Language Academy PK-8.

Kelly Webeck, Jerry Rochman, Dr. Mary Lee Webeck, Dr. Kelly J. Zúñiga, Wendy Warren, Alyssa Weinstein-Sears, Joe Weinstein-Sears

Michelle Tovar visits Warsaw

Coach Sue Scheppele, Dr. Anna Steinberger

Engines of Change Student Ambassador Program Update

Laurie Garcia at Columbia University, fourth from right, bottom row

The HMH Engines of Change Student Ambassador Program had a successful second year. 40 students from 20 public and private high schools across the Houston area participated in the program. Student Ambassadors met monthly throughout the school year to examine, discuss and debate current issues in society. Students explored the

his summer in correlation with the exhibition, The Faces of Syrian Refugees , T Creating Inclusive Communities Teacher Workshop

activities, literature, and lessons that teachers can take back to their classrooms. These groups included, the Red Sand Project, Houston Public Library, Interfaith Ministries, Refugee Council USA, and PAIR Houston. Twenty-two educators who work directly with refugee students and wanted to learn more about the refugee experience, and/or how students can become active advocates joined HMH for this inclusive and informative workshop.

This fall, Holocaust Museum Houston celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with two events focused on the untold narratives of the Latino experience. In correlation with The Texas Liberator: Witness to the Holocaust , Historian Dr. Jesus Esparza lectured about the experience of several WWII Latino soldiers from the Houston area who contributed to the Allied victory Spanish Outreach and Latin American Initiatives

Holocaust Museum Houston hosted a one-day education workshop for teachers in the Greater Houston area. The workshop offered resources and information on refugee resettlement and awareness through collaborations with refugee advocacy groups that work in conjunction with the HMH Education Department to provide

historical themes of prejudice, discrimination, social cruelty and hate speech that were present during the Holocaust and still affect our lives today. As we begin the third year of the program, we welcome 85 ambassadors from 24 area schools into the program. The increase in Student Ambassadors includes a satellite group at the Cristo Rey Jesuit School to begin in January. In April, the Engines of Change Student Ambassadors participated in the citywide Yom HaShoah commemoration where high school senior Maisha Rahman, an Engines of Change Student Ambassador, received the 2018 Yom HaShoah Scholarship. Maisha wrote in her essay, “The constant reminder of the Holocaust’s effects should encourage us to value and respect each and every individual.” Maisha is currently a freshman at the University of Texas, San Antonio.

Teachers tour The Faces of Syrian Refugees exhibition

and played a role in ending one of the most heinous and atrocious crimes against humanity, the Holocaust. Also during Hispanic Heritage Month, HMH screened the documentary, "Cuatro Puntos Cardinales," followed by a Q&A session with the film's director, Javier Kafie. This documentary portrayed stories from El Salvador and shows the cultural, social and ecological diversity of the region. These events were geared to inform Houstonians of the Museum’s ongoing Latino outreach and initiatives.

lyssa Weinstein-Sears is the newest addition to the Education Department. She began her involvement with the A Meet Our New Educator

Alyssa has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing from the Pennsylvania State University, a certificate in Strategic Communication from The University of Texas and is completing her Masters in Holocaust and Genocide Studies from Gratz College in Pennsylvania. Alyssa is married and has four amazing children—two of the human variety and two of the canine.

Museum as a 2017 Max M. Kaplan Summer Institute attendee, became a member of the Education Committee and was originally hired as an Educator in Motion in January 2018. Now working for the team full-time, Alyssa is the Summer Learning Experiences Manager for the Museum. She is responsible for creating and executing summer programs beginning in Summer 2019.

Dr. Jesus Esparza, Lauren Reyes, Carmen Reyes

Alyssa Weinstein-Sears

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