Facing History and Ourselves - Los Angeles Feed

Educators to Represent Facing History at ECET2 Conference

EmilyBlackie — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 18:20:19 +0000

press_type:

In the News

February 12, 2014

Eight teachers from across New England and Los Angeles will represent Facing History and Ourselves at the Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers (ECET2) conference in Snowbird, Utah, on February 17–19. The conference will focus on developing individual teacher leadership skills and fostering collaboration between teachers across the United States.

Among the teachers attending is Brittany Burns of Algonquin Regional High School in Northborough, Massachusetts. “An effective teacher has to have the ability to see the ‘whole’ kid and to be open to different learning styles, to remember that the most important things we teach usually don’t come from a textbook and usually can’t be measured with an exam,” Burns told the Worcester County Community Advocate. “Most importantly, an effective teacher never stops learning and striving to become better.”

Read “Algonquin teacher to attend national teaching conference in Utah” in Community Advocate.

Learn more about Facing History’s work in New England.

Learn more about Facing History's work in Los Angeles.

Academy Award®-Winner Sir Ben Kingsley at Facing History’s 2014 L.A. Benefit Dinner

EmilyBlackie — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 19:58:17 +0000

January 28, 2014

For everyone to view

Celebrity

Academy Award ®-winner Sir Ben Kingsley addressed Facing History and Ourselves teachers, students, alumni, donors, and community members at the Beverly Hills Hotel on January 27, 2014, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Facing History’s work in Los Angeles. Kingsley (Best Actor, Gandhi, 1982) spoke about his new film, Ender’s Game, which is a story about a teenager grappling with moral dilemmas. Kingsley notes the importance of creating space for youth and the larger community to come together to talk about moral dilemmas and ethical choices. Facing History, he says, helps students “learn to connect the dots between the ethical choices they’ll face in life and the positive outcomes they can create in their community and the world.”

Ender’s Game was released theatrically in November 2013 by Summit Entertainment, a LIONSGATE® company.

In the near future, a brilliant young boy is being groomed to be earth’s military leader who will save humanity from the formics, a hostile alien race. The boy is Ender Wiggin, the lead character in the film Ender’s Game. Ender is surrounded by people who push and pull at him to shape him, his identity, and what kind of leader he will be. I play Mazer Rackham, the International Fleet Commander who fought back the aliens in the last great battle and is charged with making Ender a warrior. Rackham’s identity as a Māori is literally written on his face in tattoos that tell the story of his family history and lineage.

Ender’s great natural talent is empathy, which is used to understand the enemy and predict their actions. We see Ender evolve as a leader as he wrestles with moral dilemmas, challenges authority, and ultimately gains the respect of his peers by being true to who he is.

Ender’s Game raises universal questions about war and justice, what makes an enemy, and when, if ever, there is an alternative to violence.

In Gandhi, I played the leader who led a movement that indeed showed a non-violent path to change. Throughout my career I have had the opportunity to occupy other men’s dilemmas and struggles during critical moments in history.

I think it is very important to look at the difficult times in our past in order to understand human behavior. As human beings we have the need to bring the tribe together at the bonfire and share those stories. Without an honest look at our darkest moments, we dodge an enormous responsibility.

Films, including many I’ve been in—such as Schindler’s List, for which Facing History wrote the official educator’s guide—are the modern day version of bringing the tribe together at the bonfire. Yet we must include a key ingredient—the conversation with others about these stories and how we make meaning for them in our own lives. Facing History is convening teachers, students, and the community to do just that, because they know that students are moral philosophers eager to engage in the complexities of history and understand the range of human behavior. These students learn to connect the dots between the ethical choices they’ll face in life and the positive outcomes they can create in their community and the world.

I’m proud that Facing History has chosen to include Ender’s Game in their work with students. Earlier this month 16 students from six schools in Southern California gathered to watch the film and then participated in a discussion about its themes.

Facing History Alumna Anna Genislow at the 2014 L.A. Benefit Dinner

EmilyBlackie — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 19:50:22 +0000

January 27, 2014

For everyone to view

Alumnus

Student

Facing History and Ourselves alumna Anna Genislow addressed audiences at the 20th Anniversary Los Angeles Benefit Dinner, speaking about her experience at Ánimo Jackie Robinson, a Facing History Innovative School in Los Angeles. She described challenges she has faced and how Facing History has helped her connect those personal struggles to larger, historical struggles like the Holocaust. The dinner, held at the Beverly Hills Hotel on January 27, celebrated Facing History’s 20 years of work with students, teachers, and schools in the Los Angeles area.

Anna Genislow at the 2014 L.A. Benefit Dinner
Photo courtesy of David Zentz for Maya Myers Photography

Good evening. My name is Anna Genislow and I was a member of the third graduating class of Ánimo Jackie Robinson. I’m now a sophomore at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), on a four-year, full-tuition POSSE Foundation scholarship, and I’m here to tell you about my Facing History journey and the impact Ánimo Jackie Robinson has had on my life.

First off, let me say, I didn’t want to go to Jackie Robinson. I wanted to go where my friends were. I wanted to be independent. Instead, I had to go to Jackie Robinson because my cousin, who was my legal guardian, worked at the school, and she thought it would be easier.

Not many things about my life had been easy. It was a real struggle. When I was in elementary school, I was living with my dad and stepmom—who I thought was my real mom. It wasn’t until later that a social worker told me my real mom had died from a drug overdose when I was two. My dad passed away when I was 10, and about six months later, my stepmom started a house fire and tried to kill me. I went to foster care. Then I lived with my late aunt and my brother. That was an extremely difficult time for me, both emotionally and psychologically, so I ended up living with my cousin who worked at Jackie Robinson.

After the fire, and while I was living with my brother, I had some tough times with anger and my overall emotions. I got into a lot of fights. But a lot of that changed when I got to high school. The teachers cared about me and my education. I felt comfortable interacting with them, and speaking up in class. I learned what it meant to be part of a “Facing History school.” It means that we are not ignorant of our past. We are not just concerned with passing a test. We teach reality. We face history. We face the world. That’s really why we go to school. To learn what we need to learn to be positive contributors and change makers in society.

The Facing History material was engaging, and made me want to inquire about it and want to succeed. I remember in Mr. Garcia’s 10th-grade English class, we read Night by Elie Wiesel and Black Boy by Richard Wright. We had Socratic seminars that helped us talk about and dissect the powerful events in the books. I really connected with the suffering the main characters experienced and how they responded. It got me thinking about my own suffering and my own choices.

I didn’t really know much about the Holocaust before reading Night, which we also studied at the same time in my history class. It made me think about things in a new way. The Holocaust was a mass murder of people just for being Jewish. I realized it could have been my family, because on my father’s side, we are European Jewish.

At the end of the Holocaust unit, we created memorials to the Holocaust and had to choose a word to represent a lesson we were taking with us. The first word that came to my mind was “upstander” to commemorate people doing something about injustice and inhumanity, and on the memorial design I drew a Star of David and listed names like Oskar Schindler and Leon Bass, an African American soldier that came to speak at our school who witnessed the liberation of Buchenwald.

We also had to choose a quote from one of the books we read. I chose, “I was face to face with the angel of death” from Night. The book made me reflect on my own past, and now I was telling my story to my classmates for the first time. I think a lot of them were surprised. A few asked me how I made it after all I had been through. I talked about those experiences, relating to how Elie Wiesel had been face-to-face with death.

I realized that we have a choice to fight for what we want to have happen. That, for me, was to live. I am sure there were times that Elie Wiesel wanted to die or run into the fence. There were also times he used every bit of his human strength to survive.

I could choose to be bitter at the world because of what has happened to me. But I realized that, instead, by telling our stories, there can be healing. You never know when someone might be going through some form of violence or abuse in their own lives, and hearing your story can help them heal. I recognized that there are people in my life who wanted to see me thrive and that was a motivator. To me, that is love. For a while I thought I had to be self-sufficient. My faith is very important to me, and I am grateful to God that he put these people in my life.

As a Facing History school, at Ánimo Jackie Robinson, we talk a lot about legacies, and how you never know the impact of your actions. Our choices have the power to build or destroy. We talk about it in history, and we talk about what we want our own legacy to be. I want my legacy to be one of healing.
You don’t know what impact you will have. Just by being who you are, you can leave a significant legacy in someone’s life.

As I continue my education and pursue my dreams, I will take Facing History with me. It is what has shaped my passion and my career goals for human rights and social justice.

I want to thank Ms. Botello and all my teachers for helping set me on my way.

Administrator and Facing History Educator Kristin Botello at the 2014 L.A. Benefit Dinner

EmilyBlackie — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 19:44:19 +0000

January 27, 2014

For everyone to view

Administrator

Teacher

Kristin Botello_Photo courtesy of David Zentz for Maya Myers Photography_resized.jpg

Educator Kristin Botello spoke to audiences at Facing History and Ourselves’ 2014 Los Angeles Benefit Dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel on January 27, 2014, celebrating Facing History’s 20 years of work with Los Angeles-area students, teachers, and schools. Botello, co-founder and principal of Ánimo Jackie Robinson Charter High School and a longtime Facing History teacher, spoke about the impact of Facing History on her students, how many of them are now Facing History teachers, and the potential for Facing History to change the world.

Kristin Botello at the 2014 L.A. Benefit Dinner
Photo courtesy of David Zentz for
Maya Myers Photography

I’d first like to thank Anna for her comments, but more so for her life, and for her determination, and for her willingness and ability to recreate herself. I look at her and I know that what I have dedicated my life to has meaning and purpose. She gives me value.

Anna is a Posse Scholar. I don’t know if you know what that means, but for Anna, it means life. I know that Sir Ben Kingsley remembers vividly when he stated that oh so famous line, “This list is life” from the amazing Schindler’s List. Well, for Anna, the Posse scholarship equals four years of fully-paid tuition and housing and books at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). It is truly a gift, but a gift she earned with her dedication to her studies and with her drive, and grit, and quiet fortitude. She will change the course of history in her family’s lineage because of her experiences at Ánimo Jackie Robinson and Green Dot Public Schools, and with Facing History, where she learned not only to think, read, write, and do math, but where she learned to love herself and to commit herself to the greater good. She learned to choose to participate in a better world and she gained the confidence to do so. She became an activist and an upstander, and she will continue the legacy throughout her adult life. I am sure of it.

It is amazing to me that I have done this work for so long. I remember when I thought I was an excellent teacher, and then I attended a Facing History seminar and realized there was so much more work to do. I remember when I taught Facing History with my amazing teaching partner Brian Gibbs, and I believed that I was changing the world through those 150 students each year. Then I became an administrator and realized again that there was so much more I could do. I don’t like to think about getting old, but I’ve been a part of the Facing History family for just under 20 years. When I do the math, that’s about 3,050 students that I have had the good fortune to affect in some way during my career. Several of my students are now teachers and members of other professions. Two of my Facing History students are now Facing History English teachers. I feel like a mom, so proud to witness their work as educators, as I fondly recall their young 15-year-old faces.

I want you to know that your donations are 100% changing the world, one child at a time. It sounds so cliché, but it’s true, and I thank you. Your gifts have changed lives.

For those of you who are guests tonight and are just now being introduced to Facing History, I urge you to consider making a gift.

Your gift can mean a new life for students who have yet to realize their potential. Facing History has been the core of my teaching world and has helped me rejuvenate my educational philosophy each year, and it has done so for thousands of teachers and educators all around the world. Here in Los Angeles, it has saved lives for students in urban areas because it has helped students educate themselves as scholars and as human beings, and it has helped us move students to college and beyond. I am proud to be a Facing History teacher and school leader. We continue to ask for your support and we thank you for being part of our work.

Facing History LA Benefit Honoree Karen Sulzberger at the 2014 Dinner

EmilyBlackie — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 19:25:53 +0000

January 27, 2014

For everyone to view

Board Member

Donor

Parent

Karen Sulzberger 2014 LA Dinner_resized.jpg

2014 Facing History and Ourselves Los Angeles Benefit Dinner honoree Karen Sulzberger recalled the personal journey that led her to help establish Facing History’s Los Angeles office 20 years ago. Among her many contributions, Sultzberger was instrumental in bringing Facing History’s “Choosing to Participate” exhibit to the Los Angeles Public Library. Sultzberger’s commitment to “leaving the world a better place than you found it” has been essential to Facing History’s mission and growth in the last two decades. She spoke to dinner audiences on January 27 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Karen Sulzberger at the 2014 L.A. Benefit Dinner
Photo courtesy of David Zentz for Maya Myers Photography

To receive this award on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Facing History and Ourselves in Los Angeles is deeply humbling. Tonight’s celebration allows Facing History to continue to grow in L.A. and around the world. My joy is magnified by the presence of my close friends and beloved family who have been so generous with their contributions and time. My brother Arthur flew in from New York to be here and my husband Eric and our two sons, Simon and John, are always by my side. I thank you all for coming.

Twenty years ago, when college friends of my husband, Don and Erica Stern, were visiting us in Maine, I first learned of Facing History and its mission. I was absolutely transfixed and my attention didn't flag for over an hour as Erica [longtime supporter of Facing History and former staff member] explained how Facing History was giving teachers the tools they needed to teach inclusion, acceptance, respect for one another, and, most importantly, positive action. When it was clear that they needed assistance in launching the L.A. office, I committed myself right then and there to help make this happen. What I didn't know at the time was how fundamental this work would be in shaping my own development and learning that we all, from any background and at any age, can grow from the roots of our youth into more inclusive and tolerant people - even [more tolerant] of ourselves.

I'm a very fortunate person, with the most trouble in my life stemming from confusion around issues of personal identity which, as we know, is a topic that students grapple with the moment they begin their Facing History journey. For example, many of you don't know that English is my second language, having lived in France as a young child. I didn't have a large vocabulary at the age of four, but do remember being finger-wagged to speak English when we returned to the United States. I wish that, as many Facing History students learn, I had learned at an earlier age that it was “ok” to be an immigrant.

Language was just one of the personal identity issues that troubled me during my childhood in New York. Coming from an assimilated Jewish family - and being the great-great granddaughter of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, who brought Reform Judaism to America - but being raised by my mother and her second husband in the Episcopal Church, religion confused me. But truthfully, I don't think it confused me as much it confused many of the parishioners who questioned why, with a name like Sulzberger, was I attending "their" Sunday school classes? This question also came from others, many of whom wondered why I wasn't familiar with Judaism. I wasn't because when I spent time with my father and our extended family, we were at our country home. We were Jews, but not observant ones back then, although a number of my family members are now.

This uncertainty about my identity was spotlighted my junior year of high school when I transferred from an all-girls' school in Manhattan to a co-ed Quaker boarding school in Pennsylvania. It was truly "friendly" and I loved the feeling of it, especially because there were no uniforms! After taking the introductory tour, I learned that every morning there was a 20-minute Quaker meeting allowing for both self reflection and participation. Like many high-school peers, I wanted to get it right and fit in. So, when my campus guide asked if I understood the purpose of the meetings for worship, I heard myself responding "yes" and then, again confused, asking, "but, am I supposed to believe in Jesus Christ or am I not supposed to believe in Jesus Christ?"

My guide gulped and stared at me, at a loss for words until she found the perfect ones: "That's up to you. What we want is for you to look for God in yourself, and God in others."

Adding an "o" - transforming God to good – it became exactly what I was looking for, and ultimately found so encouraging in Facing History and Ourselves' values and its work. The lesson learned is that each of us deserves the chance to define ourselves, and to be accepted with the identity we have chosen, as we grant that same right to others.

Now, getting back to why we’re here tonight, let’s celebrate Facing History's extraordinary growth in Los Angeles.

What started 20 years ago as a grassroots effort in a basement office in Dan Alba’s Pasadena home with a handful of teachers in East L.A. is now an established program in over 250 schools throughout Southern California. It has transformed entire school communities and the teachers who have been trained reach over 209,000 students each year. But these numbers are a drop in the bucket compared to the need. For young people today, there is so much peer pressure to be apathetic, to drop out of school, to be cynical and unkind. Facing History empowers students to do the opposite – to engage in their education, to care about the world around them, and to want to make a difference in their communities. These students make choices that benefit not only themselves, but the people around them and society at large.

Let me conclude with three points that reside in my heart and have redefined me. One: Facing History technically may be a professional development program for teachers, but, in actuality, it is a personal development program for all of us who come in contact with it. I've come to understand that "strangers" aren't strange, we just haven't met them yet.

Second, which I believe my sons have heard far too often, is a lesson I absorbed from the values of Facing History: "Behave as you want to be remembered." I'm proud to say, this has helped form their identities.

Finally, Facing History also makes real what my nurturing and loving grandmother, Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger, told me when I asked her for her best advice for living a good life. Her response was, "Leave the world a better place than you found it." She certainly did, and this is exactly what Facing History and Ourselves inspires us to do. It is as if she were quoting you, Margot, and I thank you and Facing History for encouraging us all to work towards that goal.

Thank you again for this great honor, but it is not just me who stands here – it takes a village. I’d like to recognize our wonderful chairs Gene Krieger and Drew Pauly, our board members, and our great staff, originally led by Dan Alba and now by Marti Tippens Murphy, who have made real our dream of having a strong, vibrant, and effective presence in Los Angeles.

Thanks to them, and all of you, for your essential support. And let’s keep on growing!

Celebrated Film Critic Kenneth Turan at 2014 LA Benefit Dinner

EmilyBlackie — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 18:52:40 +0000

January 27, 2014

For everyone to view

Celebrity

Kenneth Turan_Photo by David Zentz for Maya Myers Photography_resized.jpg

Kenneth Turan is a celebrated film critic for the Los Angeles Times and NPR’s Morning Edition, and was a featured speaker at Facing History and Ourselves’ 2014 Los Angeles Benefit Dinner. The dinner, held at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Monday, January 27, celebrated Facing History’s 20 years of work with students, teachers, and schools in the Los Angeles area and featured clips from the film Ender’s Game. The evening honored founding Advisory Board Chair of Facing History in Los Angeles Karen Sulzberger, a friend of Turan’s.

Kenneth Turan
Photo courtesy of David Zentz for
Maya Myers Photography

It's a double pleasure for me to be here tonight. The main pleasure - my admiration for this evening's honoree, my friend Karen Sulzberger - I'll get to in a minute. But the second reason is that, almost by chance, I've been thinking a lot lately about the connection between film and the issues that Facing History cares about.

That's because I've been writing a book about my favorite films, a collection of essays that has turned into a kind of spiritual autobiography. The act of writing reviews for decades, it turns out, has been a gradual process of finding out who I am and what's important to me.

What I've discovered in looking back is that I find individual moral choices to be as exciting as the ones action heroes make in blockbusters. Dramatic tension isn't found only in the obvious places. Complex ethical dilemmas can compel viewers just as easily as heroines hanging from buildings or runaway trains.

Often, sadly for English-speaking audiences, these films tend to get made overseas. In La Promesse, made by Belgium's Dardenne brothers, a heedlessly amoral boy is shocked when he realizes there is a difference between right and wrong, and that he has an obligation to act on it. In the austere, provocative, French film Of Gods and Men, a group of monks in a monastery in Algeria must decide if their vocation allows them to abandon the people who depend on them in order to save their own lives.

Films like these are few and far between in the English-speaking world, which is why I was pleased to find out that Ender’s Game was being featured here tonight. As the Facing History students in the video we just saw realized, Ender Wigan, like the young boy I mentioned in La Promesse, is not only struggling to find his own moral voice, he is coping with the realization that such a thing even exists.

One of the great things about Facing History is that it recognizes that film, with its potent emotional pull, is a great way to draw people into a discussion of moral dilemmas. Facing History recognizes how powerfully film can convey ideas and help students navigate choices. The organization puts that recognition into Facing History study guides for key films like Freedom Riders, BULLY, and Schindler's List. As the Facing History motto states, people make choices, and choices make history.

In thinking about film and moral choices, I vividly remembered something I heard more than 25 years ago from the formidable British producer David Puttnam, whose films include Chariots of Fire, Local Hero, and The Killing Fields.

The son of an Associated Press photojournalist who, the producer told me, was a genuine idealist to the day he died, David Puttnam believed in the moral power of film as few others inside or outside Hollywood have done. With apologies in advance to the teachers here tonight, I've never forgotten what he said: "I learned more about morality from On the Waterfront and High Noon than I did from any teacher or minister." They're words he tried to live by, and words we should never forget.

Finally, I want to return to Karen Sulzberger, the person who introduced me to Facing History more years ago than either of us wants to remember. She is Facing History's very active founding Advisory Board Chair [in Los Angeles] and someone who prefers to operate under the radar as much as possible. But tonight she's graciously agreed to have the moment in the spotlight she thoroughly deserves and I am so happy to be part of it.

Facing History LA Benefit Honoree Karen Sulzberger at the 2014 Dinner

EmilyBlackie — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 17:32:44 +0000

January 27, 2014 - 2014 Facing History and Ourselves Los Angeles Benefit Dinner honoree Karen Sulzberger recalled the personal journey that led her to help establish Facing History’s Los Angeles office 20 years ago. Among her many contributions, Sultzberger was instrumental in bringing Facing History’s “Choosing to Participate” exhibit to the Los Angeles Public Library. Sultzberger’s commitment to “leaving the world a better place than you found it” has been essential to Facing History’s mission and growth in the last two decades. She spoke to dinner audiences on January 27 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Twenty years ago, when college friends of my husband, Don and Erica Stern, were visiting us in Maine, I first learned of Facing History and its mission. I was absolutely transfixed and my attention didn't flag for over an hour as Erica [longtime supporter of Facing History and former staff member] explained how Facing History was giving teachers the tools they needed to teach inclusion, acceptance, respect for one another, and, most importantly, positive action. When it was clear that they needed assistance in launching the L.A. office, I committed myself right then and there to help make this happen. What I didn't know at the time was how fundamental this work would be in shaping my own development and learning that we all, from any background and at any age, can grow from the roots of our youth into more inclusive and tolerant people - even [more tolerant] of ourselves.

I'm a very fortunate person, with the most trouble in my life stemming from confusion around issues of personal identity which, as we know, is a topic that students grapple with the moment they begin their Facing History journey. For example, many of you don't know that English is my second language, having lived in France as a young child. I didn't have a large vocabulary at the age of four, but do remember being finger-wagged to speak English when we returned to the United States. I wish that, as many Facing History students learn, I had learned at an earlier age that it was “ok” to be an immigrant.

Language was just one of the personal identity issues that troubled me during my childhood in New York. Coming from an assimilated Jewish family - and being the great-great granddaughter of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, who brought Reform Judaism to America - but being raised by my mother and her second husband in the Episcopal Church, religion confused me. But truthfully, I don't think it confused me as much it confused many of the parishioners who questioned why, with a name like Sulzberger, was I attending "their" Sunday school classes? This question also came from others, many of whom wondered why I wasn't familiar with Judaism. I wasn't because when I spent time with my father and our extended family, we were at our country home. We were Jews, but not observant ones back then, although a number of my family members are now.

This uncertainty about my identity was spotlighted my junior year of high school when I transferred from an all-girls' school in Manhattan to a co-ed Quaker boarding school in Pennsylvania. It was truly "friendly" and I loved the feeling of it, especially because there were no uniforms! After taking the introductory tour, I learned that every morning there was a 20-minute Quaker meeting allowing for both self reflection and participation. Like many high-school peers, I wanted to get it right and fit in. So, when my campus guide asked if I understood the purpose of the meetings for worship, I heard myself responding "yes" and then, again confused, asking, "but, am I supposed to believe in Jesus Christ or am I not supposed to believe in Jesus Christ?"

My guide gulped and stared at me, at a loss for words until she found the perfect ones: "That's up to you. What we want is for you to look for God in yourself, and God in others."

Adding an "o" - transforming God to good – it became exactly what I was looking for, and ultimately found so encouraging in Facing History and Ourselves' values and its work. The lesson learned is that each of us deserves the chance to define ourselves, and to be accepted with the identity we have chosen, as we grant that same right to others.

Now, getting back to why we’re here tonight, let’s celebrate Facing History's extraordinary growth in Los Angeles.

What started 20 years ago as a grassroots effort in a basement office in Dan Alba’s Pasadena home with a handful of teachers in East L.A. is now an established program in over 250 schools throughout Southern California. It has transformed entire school communities and the teachers who have been trained reach over 209,000 students each year. But these numbers are a drop in the bucket compared to the need. For young people today, there is so much peer pressure to be apathetic, to drop out of school, to be cynical and unkind. Facing History empowers students to do the opposite – to engage in their education, to care about the world around them, and to want to make a difference in their communities. These students make choices that benefit not only themselves, but the people around them and society at large.

Let me conclude with three points that reside in my heart and have redefined me. One: Facing History technically may be a professional development program for teachers, but, in actuality, it is a personal development program for all of us who come in contact with it. I've come to understand that "strangers" aren't strange, we just haven't met them yet.

Second, which I believe my sons have heard far too often, is a lesson I absorbed from the values of Facing History: "Behave as you want to be remembered." I'm proud to say, this has helped form their identities.
Finally, Facing History also makes real what my nurturing and loving grandmother, Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger, told me when I asked her for her best advice for living a good life. Her response was, "Leave the world a better place than you found it." She certainly did, and this is exactly what Facing History and Ourselves inspires us to do. It is as if she were quoting you, Margot, and I thank you and Facing History for encouraging us all to work towards that goal.

Thank you again for this great honor, but it is not just me who stands here – it takes a village. I’d like to recognize our wonderful chairs Gene Krieger and Drew Pauly, our board members, and our great staff, originally led by Dan Alba and now by Marti Tippens Murphy, who have made real our dream of having a strong, vibrant, and effective presence in Los Angeles.

Thanks to them, and all of you, for your essential support. And let’s keep on growing!

"Los Angeles Confidential Magazine" Features Facing History's 20th Anniversary Benefit Dinner

EmilyBlackie — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 22:09:28 +0000

press_type:

In the News

January 27, 2014

Los Angeles Confidential Magazine has featured Facing History and Ourselves' Los Angeles Benefit Dinner, which celebrates 20 years of serving teachers and students in the Los Angeles area. The event will pay tribute to Karen Sulzberger, whose vision and support have been essential to Facing History's growth in the last two decades. Among her many contributions, Sulzberger was instrumental in bringing Facing History’s "Choosing to Participate" exhibit to the Los Angeles Public Library, where it was seen by thousands of visitors. She remains an active member of the Los Angeles Advisory Board and has also served on Facing History's National Board of Directors.

The event will also featured Oscar®-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley, who will speak about OddLot Entertainment's highly celebrated film, Ender’s Game, which was released theatrically in November 2013 by Summit Entertainment, a LIONSGATE® company.

Read more in Los Angeles Confidential.

Learn more about our work in Los Angeles.

Facing History and Ourselves Celebrates 20 Years of Empowering Los Angeles Students and Teachers at Benefit Dinner Featuring Ender’s Game

EmilyBlackie — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 17:46:44 +0000

press_type:

Press Release

January 21, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21, 2014

Contact: Emily Blackie
Facing History and Ourselves
216-321-9220 x226/Emily_Blackie@facing.org

Contact: Anne Burt
Facing History and Ourselves
917-510-3003/Anne_Burt@facing.org

Academy Award® Winner Sir Ben Kingsley
Will Speak at Benefit on January 27th

LOS ANGELES January 21, 2014 – Nonprofit educational organization Facing History and Ourselves celebrates 20 years of serving teachers and students in Los Angeles with a benefit dinner featuring Summit Entertainment and OddLot Entertainment’s highly celebrated film Ender’s Game on Monday, January 27th at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Oscar®-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley (Best Actor, Gandhi, 1982) will speak at the event highlighting Ender’s Game, which was released theatrically in November 2013 by Summit Entertainment, a LIONSGATE® company. The film, which grossed over $60 million at the domestic box office, will be available on Digital HD on January 28th and on Blu-ray, DVD and Video on Demand on February 11th from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

The epic adventure featuring Kingsley, Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, and Abigail Breslin is set in a near future when a hostile alien race has attacked Earth and the International Military are training only the best young children to find the next great leader. The film explores what it takes for an individual to be what Facing History calls an “Upstander” – someone who speaks up or acts on behalf of others. The evening will also feature Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan who will speak about moral dilemmas in film, and will include compelling stories of Facing History students and teachers in Los Angeles. The dinner honors founding Advisory Board Chair of Facing History in Los Angeles, Karen Sulzberger of the New York Times.

Facing History provides training and support for more than 30,000 educators that reach three million students annually worldwide. Since the opening of its Los Angeles office in 1994, more than 2,700 local educators have participated in Facing History's professional development programs. These teachers annually reach over 209,000 middle and high school students in over 400 public, religious, and independent schools throughout Southern California.

Facing History and Ourselves was founded in 1976 by educators who believed that instilling intellectual vigor and curiosity goes hand-in-hand with teaching facts and figures. From the disturbing lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides to struggles for civil rights from Birmingham to South Africa, Facing History trusts students to wrestle with complex moments in history, and work to help them understand the range of human behavior.

Facing History has always used film to explore history, human behavior, and moral decision-making, and has formed educational partnerships with movies including Schindler’s List, BULLY, and Eyes on the Prize. As a film whose young protagonist is struggling to find his own moral voice and maintain his humanity under the pressure of a society in crisis, Ender’s Game is a catalyst for young people to discuss the pressures and choices in their own lives. Facing History themes of bullying, empathy, friendship, peer pressure, conformity, genocide, and “the other” are prominent in Ender’s Game, which explores questions such as “how can you change the course of history?” and “what does it take to be an Upstander?”

About Ender’s Game
Based on the best-selling award-winning novel, Summit Entertainment’s Ender’s Game takes place in the near future; when a hostile alien race called the Formics has attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander Mazer Rackham (Sir Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford) and the International Military are training only the best young children to find the next great leader. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy, but strategically brilliant boy is pulled out of his school to join the elite. Arriving at Battle School, Ender quickly and easily masters increasingly difficult war games, distinguishing himself and winning respect amongst his peers. Ender is soon ordained by Graff as the military's next great hope, resulting in his promotion to Command School. Once there, he's trained by Mazer Rackham, himself, to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race.

Action icon and Academy Award nominee Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld, two-time Academy Award nominee Viola Davis, Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin, and Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley star in the epic adventure.

About Facing History and Ourselves
Facing History and Ourselves was founded in 1976 by educators who believed that instilling intellectual vigor and curiosity goes hand-in-hand with teaching facts and figures. From the disturbing lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides to struggles for civil rights from Birmingham to South Africa, we trust students to wrestle with complex moments in human history, and work to help them understand the range of human behavior. These students learn to connect the dots between the ethical choices they’ll face in life and the positive outcomes they can create in their community and the world. For more information, visit facinghistory.org.

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Facing History Pilot Project Gets Boost with New White House Promise Zone Initiative

EmilyBlackie — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 22:14:44 +0000

press_type:

In the News

January 9, 2014

A program that has helped Facing History and Ourselves provide in-depth educator support and training to teachers and administrators at four low-income schools in Los Angeles got a boost Wednesday with the unveiling of a new government initiative that will steer millions of federal dollars into improving education, housing, and public safety in hard hit areas around the country.

The “Promise Zone” program will create five zones across the country – in San Antonio, Philadelphia, Southeastern Kentucky, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and Los Angeles – that will receive preferential status for federal grants aimed at creating jobs, increasing economic security, expanding educational opportunities, increasing access to quality, affordable housing, and improving safety.

The program is an extension of a grant program launched in President Barack Obama’s first term that channeled $75 million into seven communities around the country, including two neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

At that time, Los Angeles received the largest grant – $30 million – which went toward creating the Los Angeles Promise Neighborhood. Headed by the Youth Policy Institute (YPI), the Los Angeles Promise Neighborhood aimed to serve 18,000 young people in Hollywood and Pacoima. YPI contracted with several Los Angeles-area organizations, including Facing History, to provide services in these communities.

Since July 2013, Facing History has worked with four schools in Pacoima – Social Justice Humanitas Academy, a high school that is part of Facing History’s Innovative Schools Network, and three middle schools – to provide academically rigorous and in-depth teacher training, resources, and support to help educators foster safer, more inclusive, and more reflective school environments. At the middle school level, Facing History particularly focused on issues of safety, inclusion, and bullying, and took part in a Safe Schools Pilot Project carried out in coordination with The Los Angeles Fund for Public Education.

Wednesday’s White House announcement will allow the work started with the Los Angeles Promise Neighborhood to continue.

“This is a real opportunity to deepen our work with the four schools we have partnered with this school year, and to make new relationships with educators in the future,” said Facing History and Ourselves Los Angeles Office Director Marti Tippens Murphy. “I believe this will allow the city of Los Angeles to truly focus on the important issues of education and jobs, and will help create a shift in education that will look at the whole child – from cradle to college.”

Ultimately, the Obama administration says it hopes to impact 20 regions nationwide. The program, which aims to create new pathways to success, was announced 50 years after President Lyndon Johnson first declared a “War on Poverty” in America.

Find out more about Facing History and Ourselves in Los Angeles, including upcoming professional development and information about working with Facing History in your classroom or school.