Next weekend, nearly 30 North Carolina teachers will take a trip to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
Fully funded by the North Carolina Holocaust Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, the trip will teach educators about the history of antisemitism and the Holocaust, as well as provide guidance on how those subjects should be taught.
The foundation is a nonprofit that helps fund programs from the North Carolina Council on the Holocaust, a state agency under the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
The teachers attending the foundation’s eighth teacher trip represent 20 different school systems across the state, according to a news release. A number of teachers on the trip are from Mecklenburg County and surrounding areas.
The trip comes at a time when antisemitism is on the rise nationally and in Charlotte , trip sponsors told the Observer.
Impact on teachers
On the trip, teachers will tour the museum, speak with a Holocaust survivor and explore other museums in D.C.
They will also have “homework assignments” to complete on the bus rides, North Carolina Holocaust Foundation chairman Mitch Rifkin told the Observer. According to the trip agenda, activities on the bus include watching relevant films and completing trip reflections and evaluations.
Stephanie Huneycutt, a media coordinator at Ridge Road Middle School in Charlotte attending the bus trip, said she found the opportunity through Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ professional development newsletter and was immediately interested.
“This can be a difficult thing to try to teach to the kids, but I feel like it’s really important,” she said. “So I’m really excited to get the aspect of ‘how do I bring this back and make this meaningful’ so that the kids are also interested in ‘how do we learn more about this, how do we keep the historical relevance of this.’”
Huneycutt is the only CMS teacher attending this bus trip. The foundation reaches out to all North Carolina counties, inviting teachers to participate in the program, before vetting those that are interested and deciding on attendees, Rifkin said.
Sam Bernstein, the chief development and marketing officer for the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, said the program is particularly beneficial for teachers in rural areas who may not have the resources to teach the lessons of the Holocaust.
The trip is a great opportunity to increase the emotional connection between the teachers and the history, which will create a more meaningful learning experience for students, Huneycutt said.
“(The Holocaust) didn’t personally touch us necessarily, and a lot of historical topics, until you see it and can have a visceral emotional reaction to it, it doesn’t really mean a whole lot to you, necessarily,” she said.
Albertia Burgess, an ELA teacher at Hunters Creek Middle School in Jacksonville, North Carolina, attended two N.C. Holocaust Foundation bus trips — one in 2016 and another in 2019. Burgess grew up learning about the Holocaust in school, and when she became a teacher, she sought out resources to strengthen her understanding of the event’s history.
Visiting the memorial museum in D.C. is one of the best ways to get foundational information on how to teach the history of the Holocaust, and will give teachers an entirely new perspective, Burgess told the Observer.
“I think most teachers are used to reading it online, with different materials or through books, but when you go to the permanent exhibit, you get to look at a lot of different artifacts that have come directly from survivors, families of survivors,” she said.
Rising antisemitism
Right now, the country is seeing high levels of antisemitism, especially due to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Rifkin told the Observer. And, with antisemitism rising, “Charlotte is not immune,” Bernstein said.
The Anti-Defamation League reported 8,873 antisemitic incidents in 2023 , a 140% increase from the number of incidents in 2022.
In 2021, North Carolina passed the Gizella Abramson Holocaust Education Act , which requires Holocaust education be included in the curriculum in 6th- to 12th-grade public school English and social studies classes.
Burgess said while the law hasn’t been implemented for long enough for her to see a change, the N.C. Council on the Holocaust has worked hard to provide pacing guides and other resources on teaching the Holocaust for educators.
Huneycutt said the Department of Public Instruction is working on putting together standards and guidelines for Holocaust elective classes, which she hopes become readily available for students across the state, especially middle schoolers.
“It would be a really good way to kind of reinforce some of those social emotional pieces that we’re trying to tackle with that age,” she said.
Burgess added that when teachers connect with the resources provided by the foundation and the Council on the Holocaust, they can find ways to connect the Holocaust with current events in a relevant way for students.
“I just think it’s a great opportunity for teachers to embark on,” she said.
Most Popular
Comments / 0