In mid-June, Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center (TJMHC) will hold a two-day conference designed to empower Southern Arizona educators to teach the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides. This in-person conference is presented in partnership with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Community of Holocaust Education Centers and will provide teachers with the tools they need to teach this important subject with confidence.
TJMHC’s Educators Conference is free of charge for Southern Arizona teachers of all grades but will specifically target the needs of educators working to meet the Arizona Department of Education requirements for Holocaust education. Since 2022, the State has mandated that the Holocaust and other genocides be taught once in middle school and again in high school. Conference participants will learn about state and local teaching guidelines, how to prepare lesson plans, and how to create their own engaging classroom activities.
In addition to learning from national scholars, Southern Arizona teachers will also be introduced to local resources and TJMHC curriculum and hear from a panel that includes a local Holocaust survivor and second-generation survivor. Independent producer, Laura Markowitz, will present her Arizona Public Media series, Children of the Holocaust, and facilitate a discussion on how these local survivors’ stories can be used in the classroom and beyond.
All participating teachers will receive a copy of Doris Bergon’s reference book, A Concise History of the Holocaust, and a copy of local survivor Sideny Finkel’s memoir, Sevek: The Boy Who Refused to Die. Educators will also earn continuing education credits for attendance.
The conference will be held June 17-18 in Tucson. To ensure that all Southern Arizona educators have the opportunity to attend, a travel stipend is available for teachers traveling from outside the Tucson metro area. Space is limited, so register today here. For more information, contact TJMHC’s Programming & Education Director, Ori Tsameret, at programs@tjmhc.org or via 520-277-7075.
TJMHC’s Educators Conference is made possible with a gift from the Donald Baker Legacy Fund held at the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona.
