Facing History and Ourselves - National Projects Feed

Scholarship Allows Palm Beach Teachers to Attend Boston Seminar

EmilyBlackie — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:26:13 +0000

press_type:

In the News

May 15, 2012

Two Facing History and Ourselves teachers in Florida have won the Herbert C. Lee Scholarship, which will allow them to attend a Facing History seminar this summer in Boston, Massachusetts.

Upon completion of Facing History’s week-long Holocaust and Human Behavior seminar, Krystal Lamb of Park Vista High School and Teodora Kavburov of Boca Raton High School will each implement a four-week Holocaust and Human Behavior unit at their school.

The Palm Beach Fellowship for Christians and Jews sponsored the award, which is named for a Florida-area champion of Facing History.

Read “Teachers Awarded Facing History Scholarships,” in the Palm Beach Daily News by Christopher C. Paine.

Learn more about our work across North America.

Educator and Board Member Team Up to Honor Upstanders at Iowa State University

EmilyBlackie — Tue, 17 May 2011 18:04:57 +0000

press_type:

In the News

May 9, 2011

Zora Zimmerman, associate dean for academic programs at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University, together with Facing History San Francisco Bay Area Board Member Debra Engel, have created an Upstander Award to honor Iowa State students who have made a positive impact in their communities.

The award was inspired by the Facing History term “Upstanders,” used to describe people who choose to take a positive action in the face of injustice in society or in situations where individuals need assistance. Students in Facing History classes actively discuss what it means to be an upstander, a bystander, and what it means to choose to participate.

Click here to read more about the first student recipient of this award on the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences website.

What does it mean to be an effective teacher?

EmmaSamler — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:50:07 +0000

press_type:

In the News

January 24, 2011

Hear what Florida Facing History teacher Marguerite Kling shared in a radio interview with Michael Eric Dyson last week. She was the only educator invited to participate on the panel "Unleashing Innovation in the Classroom" at The Aspen Institute’s Education and Innovation Forum and Expo. Other speakers on the panel included Jim Shelton, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement; Jean Desravines, Chief Officer for Cities and Policy, and Incoming CEO of New Leaders for New Schools; and John Katzman, Chief Executive Officer, 2tor, Inc.

Listen to her interview on The Michael Eric Dyson Show. Her interview takes place in the program's first 12 minutes. Listen for her mention of Facing History 3 minutes and 33 seconds in!

To hear more from Marguerite and her students, visit our 2010 online annual report. The homepage features short and poignant testimonies from her students, reminding us of the power of the Facing History classroom. Watch a video of Marguerite telling her Facing History story.

Watch Marguerite Kling participate in this panel discussion "Unleashing Innovation in the Classroom" during The Aspen Institute's 2011 Education and Innovation Forum and Expo. (Kling first speaks in minute 4:30)

Baltimore Sun: Students Delve Into History

EmmaSamler — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:00:11 +0000

press_type:

In the News

December 23, 2010

"We think about how we would react to these things, … how to think for ourselves rather than being part of a group."

Antonio P. and his Facing History classmates at Sudbrook Magnet Middle School in Baltimore County recently spent two weeks immersed in the Facing History curriculum as part of a program for eighth graders. An article in the Baltimore Sun shares the students' experiences and reactions.

Read the article in the Baltimore Sun, "Middle-School Students Learn Tolerance."

WWII Vet Leon Bass Inspires Students With A Message of Tolerance

EmmaSamler — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:15:42 +0000

press_type:

In the News

October 3, 2010

“Life can be very difficult, but you make the difference,” said Leon Bass, WWII veteran, civil rights activist, and Facing History classroom speaker. Bass recently spoke at Iroquois High School in Louisville, Kentucky as part of the school's work with Facing History and Ourselves. One student described his presentation by saying, "It makes you think about the choices you have to make and whether you make the right ones or not.”

Read the article in the Louisville Courier-Journal, "WWII Vet Inspires Iroquois Class: Bass Speaks About Racism, Holocaust."

Learn more about Facing History's work in Louisville, Kentucky through our North America Project.

Facing History's District-Wide Work Highlighted by Jefferson County Superintendent

EmmaSamler — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:49:18 +0000

press_type:

In the News

October 1, 2010

In a guest article in Citizen Matters, a publication by the Education Commission of the States, Superintendent Sheldon Berman describes why Facing History is so important to the schools in his district. Facing History is district-wide in 18 different school systems, including Berman's schools in Jefferson County, Kentucky.

"In 9th-grade social studies, we also focus on civics, using a profound curriculum entitled Facing History and Ourselves that explores the issue of intolerance through case studies of the Holocaust and Armenian genocide. By exploring the essential question of how genocide can become state policy, students learn a great deal about history — but also about the conditions that lead to prejudice and social injustice and about the role of the individual in society."

Read Berman's article in Citizen Matters, "The Achievement Gap VS the Empowerment Gap."

Learn more about Facing History's work in Louisville, Kentucky through our North America Project.

Swain School’s Facing History Curriculum in Independent School Magazine

AdamBernstein — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:22:07 +0000

press_type:

In the News

May 4, 2010

Kyle Armstrong, middle school director at The Swain School in Pennsylvania, published an article for Independent School Magazine about the implementation of a Facing History and Ourselves Holocaust Studies curriculum at Swain. Two years after the program’s inception, Armstrong considers its effect on fifth to eight grade students, who read Holocaust literature, hear survivors speak and visit the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

Read the piece in the online news section of National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), “Swain School Teaches Tolerance Through Holocaust Program.”

Facing History Students Raise Awareness to Stop Litter

AdamBernstein — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:22:23 +0000

press_type:

In the News

May 26, 2010

After discussing service in their Facing History class, a group of students at Ballad High in Louisville, Kentucky decide to bring a litter awareness campaign to their school.

Read the article in the Courier Journal , "Ballard High Freshman (Green Gang) Mount War on Littering".

Eric Yamamoto on Japanese-American Internment Camps

TanyaLubicz-Nawrocka — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:50:10 +0000

Video details

Law professor, author, and scholar Eric Yamamoto spoke at Facing History and Ourselves' 1997 Human Rights and Justice conference, "Collective Violence and Memory: Judgment, Reconciliation, Education." In this video clip, Yamamoto shares a powerful story about a Japanese-American woman who had been held in an internment camp during WWII.

Eric Yamamoto is a University of Hawaii Law School professor, an author, and a scholar. Yamamoto spoke at Facing History and Ourselves' 1997 Human Rights and Justice conference, "Collective Violence and Memory: Judgment, Reconciliation, Education." In this video clip, Yamamoto shares a powerful story about a Japanese-American woman who had been held in an internment camp during WWII.

Transcript:

"…After one talk, I was met by a woman in the audience…and tears were streaming down her face…she said, ‘When I was interned and imprisoned I knew I didn’t do anything wrong. But the President said imprisonment was right, and the Congress said it was right, and the military said it was right, and then the Supreme Court said it was right, and that caused doubt inside my gut. And for forty years I have not been able to speak to anyone about this…only now, with the story being told, and the legal challenge, and reparations forthcoming, only now am I able to talk about it, and now I’m freed."

Library

Video length:

01 min 00 sec

Date filmed:

Apr 10 1997

Archive call number:

7525d,w, 3361

Speaker name:

Yamamoto, Eric K., 1952-

Not available for borrowing

Feature

Louisville Students Get Hands-on Civics Lesson in Facing History

EmmaSamler — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:38:17 +0000

press_type:

In the News

April 9, 2010

155 students displayed their service projects at the second annual Celebration Fair at duPont Manual High School in Louisville, Kentucky. The projects are part of a freshman Facing History and Ourselves civics course offered in all of Jefferson County Public Schools titled, Exploring Civics: Facing History and Ourselves.

Read the article in the Courier Journal, "Manual Students Get Hands-on Civics Lesson."