Fellows in Focus – April 2021
Fellows in Focus
Maureen Carter
As part of our social media series highlighting the JFR’s Alfred Lerner Fellows, we’re excited to introduce Maureen Carter, a fantastic teacher from south Florida. Read below to learn more! #teach4jfr
Where are you from?
I am originally from Long Island, New York. I now live in Boynton Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida.
Where do you teach and what subject?
I teach a variety of subjects now. I have taught Holocaust Studies, AP EURO, American History, European History, Anthropology, and American Government.
How did you get involved with the JFR?
I am a Lerner Fellow from 2004 when I was a classroom teacher. After that I became the administrator for Holocaust Studies for K-12. My qualifications from the JFR made that possible. This is a position that is unique. There may only be a few in the country from what I know. The teaching of the Holocaust is required in Florida. I have taught the Holocaust in my FAU (Florida Atlantic University) Social Studies course and now with international students.
What drew you to the organization and its programming?
I became interested in the JFR because of its focus on the Righteous Among the Nations. I have always been interested in why people chose to help and others did or could not. What was their motivation?
What was the most compelling thing you learned as an Alfred Lerner Fellow?
The most compelling thing I learned as a Lerner Fellow was the history of the Holocaust is complicated. There may be times when people chose to do the right thing and then the same people became compromised or to save their life chose the other way. The whole historiography of the Holocaust is complicated. As I tell my students, history does not happen in isolation. There is a bigger picture.
What is your favorite memory from your participation in JFR programming?
I would say that my favorite memory is that I had the opportunity to travel three years in a row to Europe to the sites and towns and villages where the Holocaust took place. I feel most fortunate that I was able to do these trips. My most favorite memories of these trips is when we got to meet with rescuers and how grateful they are to the JFR. We are so grateful to them too.
How do you feel the fellowship has impacted your life, both personally and professionally?
I feel that after the institute I realized this was my life’s work. Personally, it has helped me on my own personal journey of fulfillment and has helped with questions I had about my own Hungarian Jewish roots. I was able to find my great-grandmother’s grave in Budapest thanks to Stanlee Stahl. My entire family of 36 first cousins along with my father and his siblings are grateful to her as well.
Anything else?
I would like to thank Stanlee Stahl and the board of the JFR for making me the person I have become. I realize that teaching is not only teaching history, but it is nurturing as well. We do this to make our students better human beings. Those are the lessons and legacies of the Holocaust. When you meet a rescuer, you realize that you are meeting an ordinary human being who chose to do the right thing at the right time in history. For this knowledge, I will be always grateful.
Doug Cervi
As part of our social media series highlighting the JFR’s Alfred Lerner Fellows, we’re excited to introduce Doug Cervi, a fantastic teacher from south Jersey. Read below to learn more! #teach4jfr
Where are you from?
I live in South Jersey about fifteen minutes from the beach in a suburban community by a lake.
Where do you teach and what subject?
For forty-one years I taught at Oakcrest High School where I taught US History II and AP US History and for the past eight years I have been teaching as an Adjunct Professor at Stockton University in South Jersey classes on the Holocaust and Genocide.
How did you get involved with the JFR?
The Stockton University Holocaust Resource Center, whose Director is Gail Rosenthal, has had a connection with JFR for many years and I was very fortunate to be asked and selected to attend the summer seminar in 2002 and then attended a subsequent advanced program several years later in North Jersey.
What drew you to the organization and its programming?
Having spoken with Gail Rosenthal at length, I was very much impressed with the quality of the programs that where offered during the one week seminar and the impressive guest speakers and as important the ability to share your ideas with other educators from around the country.
What is your favorite memory from your participation in JFR programming?
There is no question that the JFR program is hands down the most important educational program that I have ever attended. I have attended several quality educational programs in different parts of the country but this is by far at the top of the list. The only other experience that has impacted me as much is when I took my first educational tour of the countries and camps in 1996, with the NJ Commission on Holocaust Education and again in 2001, with the Masters of Arts Program in Holocaust Studies at Stockton University. All three of them have become life-changing experiences for me. The beneficiaries of these programs are my students.
To be able to meet survivors and have the scholars impart their knowledge about the Holocaust, knowing that I will be able to share this with my students brings life to what I teach and honors the victims as Elie Wiesel has said, “once you meet a witness you become a witness.” You now have a responsibility to educate the next generation. I tell my students that I am really teaching their children. The passion that the speakers have for this subject is infectious and then you realize the importance of what you are teaching. You learn to give a voice for those that can no longer speak and a face to those that lost their lives.
The is no question that meeting Roman Kent and the sharing his personal story is something that I will never forget especially about the relationship he had with dog. For a person who has seen the worst of human behavior and be able to continue his life in such a way to improve the quality of life for today’s students is a testament to the reliance of the human spirit. The speech that Roman gave at the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz brought tears to my eyes for this incredible man.
How do you feel the fellowship has impacted your life, both personally and professionally?
There is no question that I am a better person, father, husband and teacher for having attended the JFR program. If more teachers were able to attend this program this would be a much better world. Maybe someday we will stop killing each other.
Anything else?
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to attend both JFR programs, for they have given me the ability and confidence to teach about this most terrible time in human history and give hope to my students that they can make a difference in this world and make their community a better place than it was before they came.
Joslyn Corbett
As part of our social media series highlighting the JFR’s Alfred Lerner Fellows, we’re excited to introduce Joslyn Corbett, a fantastic teacher from Florida. Read below to learn more! #teach4jfr
Where are you from?
I am a native Floridian. I was born and raised in a small town in central Florida.
Where do you teach and what subject do you teach?
I teach 6th and 7th Regular, Advanced, and Gifted ELA.
How did you get involved with the JFR?
Through encouragement of a dear friend, I applied to become an Alfred Lerner Fellow.
What drew you to the organization and its programming?
My knowledge of antisemitism and the events before, during and after the Holocaust was limited, to say the least. I had and still have difficulty in teaching the content to my students. I knew the JFR and the Alfred Lerner Fellowship would increase my understanding of the Holocaust.
What was the most compelling thing you learned as an Alfred Lerner Fellow?
I learned that it’s okay not to understand how and why millions of Jews were systematically murdered. But, I also learned that it is my obligation as an educator to honor and remember those who were saved and those who were lost through my teaching.
What is your favorite memory from your participation in JFR programming?
The friendships that I made, the lessons I learned, the conversations I had with some of the most brilliant scholars on the planet. The whole experience was thought-provoking and life-changing.
How do you feel the fellowship has impacted your life, both personally and professionally?
My JFR experience still impacts me personally and professionally. I have grown more confident in educating my kids about the human catastrophe of the Holocaust. Becoming a fellow has put me on the path to deepening my knowledge and understanding surrounding the plight of the Jewish people before, during, and after the Holocaust. Personally, my experience as a fellow has solidified my purpose and mission to change the world, one kid at a time.
Anything else you’d like to share with the JFR’s followers and supporters?
I am so very honored to have been given this opportunity. To Stanlee and the JFR, to the Alfred Lerner fellows, and to the JFR supporters, THANK YOU!!
Kari Zilian
As part of our social media series highlighting the JFR’s Alfred Lerner Fellows, we’re excited to introduce Kari Zilian, a fantastic teacher in Monaca, PA. Read below to learn more: #teach4jfr
Where are you from?
Pittsburgh, PA.
Where do you teach and what subject do you teach?
I teach at Central Valley High School in Monaca, PA and I teach Social Studies: US History 2, Psychology, and The History and Perspectives of the Holocaust.
How did you get involved with the JFR?
I have been involved with the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh for many years. Lauren Bairnsfather, the director of the center, nominated me to attend the 2019 Summer Institute. I gladly accepted.
What drew you to the organization and its programming?
The program offered to enhance my knowledge of Holocaust education and that always attracts me as an educator. I want to hear from survivors, learn from the guest speakers and professors, come together with colleagues and take this knowledge back to my students in my classroom so they acknowledge what has happened in the past and not allow it to happen ever again in their future. With Stanlee being in charge, she allowed a strict, organized, yet “family” style congregation. Our itinerary was nothing less than impressive and included survivors and accredited professors of Holocaust education. We were busy, always stayed on schedule, were offered a plethora of knowledge, and the opportunity to meet fellow educators from throughout the world! We had plenty of time to get to know one another, and as educators, had much in common.
What was the most compelling thing you learned as an Alfred Lerner Fellow?
This is a difficult question, so I saved it for last. I learned something from each and every speaker. I must admit that I found Lawrence Douglas’s lecture about Law and the Holocaust most compelling because there was a lot that I learned from him and the irrational laws put against Jews during the Holocaust era. Hearing about them in the 21st century sounds even more absurd that anyone at all would be treated in such an unfair manner. Mr. Douglas truly opened my eyes to how far gentiles were willing to go to exterminate the Jew. What I got from this lecture and the overall program is that we need to honor the victims in the lessons presented in our classroom. They experienced unimaginable circumstances. One speaker showed very graphic photos to us. It was enlightening to hear some educators stress the importance of having a humanistic approach when teaching about the victims of the Holocaust, not to traumatize them. Lessons shouldn’t be about the shock factor. These victims had lives and they had a history. They were human and their stories need told and honored. They need to live through our teachings and this is most compelling to me. It’s a lesson every educator must remember.
What is your favorite memory from your participation in JFR programming?
I really appreciated that in three short days, the members of the 2019 JFR Summer Institute for Teachers became a family. We were very compatible in order to engage in learning, discussed ideas in break up sessions, came up with new teaching techniques in the classroom, asked our guest speakers great questions in order to enhance our understanding, and we ended with a “family” dinner in downtown NYC.
How do you feel the fellowship has impacted your life, both personally and professionally?
I know that I would participate in another summer institute in order to learn more about the Holocaust. At the end of our short three days, we all had wished that the institute lasted the entire week. I took a lot of knowledge back to my students and shared with them what I learned and will do so each semester (and also within my Psychology course). And just as when I walked out of the Holocaust Museum in DC for the very first time, the institute made me feel like a changed person. Trivial things just don’t matter.Treating ALL people with kindness truly matters and that theme continues to be at the core of all my lessons. Today’s students are our future. They need to be aware of the past so they have good judgment in their future. As Holocaust survivor Roman Kent said, he wishes for educators to teach our children to act in a way so that there will never be another Holocaust. Love is stronger than hate. Teach tolerance. Love each other.
Anything else you’d like to share with the JFR’s followers and supporters?
I can honestly say this institute has been one of my favorite experiences as an educator. I have had several opportunities to further my knowledge of Holocaust history, but attending this fellowship at Columbia University with friends and new friends, Stanlee as the director, and such informative speakers, is an educational trip I will not soon forget.
