July 30, 2002
INTENSIVE WEEK-LONG CONFERENCE TO DEVELOP NATIONAL HOLOCAUST EDUCATION LEADERS HELD AT U.S. HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM
25 Educators from Across U.S. to Participate in Seventh Annual Mandel Fellowship Program
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The seventh annual Mandel Teacher Fellowship Program will be held August 4 – 9, 2002, at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Established in 1996, the Mandel Teacher Fellowship Program strives to develop a cadre of skilled secondary school teachers to serve as Holocaust education leaders in their schools and communities.
Fellows participate in a five-day seminar exploring Holocaust education strategies with Museum personnel and Holocaust scholars and a two-day follow-up session on May 4 – 6, 2003, where they will provide updates about the Holocaust education initiatives they have launched in their schools or communities.
Each of the 25 participants has taught Holocaust history for a minimum of five years. Currently, there are 145 Mandel Fellows from 45 states and the District of Columbia. This year’s fellows were selected based on their extensive knowledge of Holocaust history, successful teaching experience and professional and community involvement.
Fellows are expected to use their experience to create outreach projects in their schools, communities or professional organizations. In May 2003, Fellows will return to the Museum to assess the progress of their outreach efforts and may apply for special funding that supports exemplary projects promoting Holocaust education. Past participants have launched a number of innovative Holocaust educational outreach programs, including holding Holocaust education conferences, developing on-line Holocaust cirriculums, distributing Holocaust education guidelines to schools in their home states, and more.
“The Mandel Fellowship Program enables the Holocaust Museum to provide high-quality Holocaust education programs to people around the country,” explains Mandel Program Coordinator Daniel Napolitano. “By identifying educators who can reach students of all ages in all communities the Museum extends it educational impact exponentially.”
This seven-year program is funded by a gift from the Mandel Associated Foundations.
The Holocaust Museum’s Education Division offers programs for educators of all levels of Holocaust education experience. Each July, the Museum hosts the Arthur and Rochelle Belfer National Conference for Educators, which is specifically designed for secondary educators with fewer than five years’ experience in teaching the Holocaust.
The Museum’s Education Division has developed numerous resources and services to help educators and students learn about Holocaust history, including lesson plans, curricula, literature, and audio-visual materials, many of which are free-of-charge. Currently, the Museum serves more than 30,000 educators annually.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is America’s national institution for the documentation, study and interpretation of Holocaust history, and serves as this country’s memorial to the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust. Since opening in April 1993, the Museum has welcomed more than 18 million visitors. The Museum’s primary mission is to advance and disseminate knowledge about this unprecedented tragedy; to preserve the memory of those who suffered; and to encourage its visitors to reflect upon the moral questions raised by the events of the Holocaust as well as their own responsibilities as citizens of a democracy.
For more information regarding the Mandel Fellowship Program, or to arrange for interviews with or photography of participants, please contact the Museum’s Media Relations Department: Andy Hollinger, (202) 488-6133.
