Where are you from?
Originally, I am from Romania. Now I live in Florida.

Where do you teach and what subject do you teach?
I teach AICE General Paper and Holocaust Honors at Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, Florida.

How did you get involved with the JFR?
A few years ago, I attended the JFR Summer Institute for Teachers.

What drew you to the organization and its programming?
The excellence and the quality of education that JFR provides in the Summer Institute as well as the Advanced Seminar.

What was the most compelling thing you learned as an Alfred Lerner Fellow?
The most compelling thing I learned as an Alfred Lerner  is that there are multiple layers of understanding of the Holocaust. Since my participation in the Summer Institute, I have continued to participate in the Advanced Seminar where I got the chance to meet and learn from world renowned scholars.

What is your favorite memory from your participation in JFR programming?
One of my favorite memories from my participation in JFR programming  – “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” exhibit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage with the world-renowned scholar, Dr. Jan Van Pelt.

How do you feel the fellowship has impacted your life, both personally and professionally?
I feel that the fellowship has impacted my life both personally and professionally as I gained a  better understanding of the multiple layers of teaching about the Holocaust. Since my participation in the Summer Institute, and later on the Advanced Seminar, I have continued to try to reach my highest potential by participating in national and international workshops, seminars, and conferences.

Through these trainings, I have gained a lot of great memories and met with Holocaust survivors and with teachers who are passionate about educating our students. They are giving me hope that we can make the world a better place through education.

Anything else you’d like to share with the JFR’s followers and supporters?
Yes. I would like to share with the JFR’s followers and supporters a link to a  54 minutes video that my students and I put together for the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, featuring Holocaust Survivor, Norman Frajman.

Where are you from?
I am originally from Durango, Colorado but I have made my home in Newbury, New Hampshire for the past 25 years.

Where do you teach and what subject do you teach?
I teach world history to 8th-graders at Hopkinton Middle High school. I also teach two high school electives, Global Issues and Sociology. I am always astounded at how often what I have learned about the Holocaust, fits into my teaching in the different classes that I teach. Additionally, I am the advisor of the school’s Interact Club and the Girl Up Club.

How did you get involved with the JFR?
I learned about the JFR from a fellow Holocaust teacher at a summer institute at the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College in New Hampshire. I was interested in expanding my own knowledge and my toolkit for teaching the Holocaust to my students. She recommended the JFR as a great way to expand my learning even further with the opportunity to travel to the places that I had only visited in my classroom lessons.

What drew you to the organization and its programming?
I was interested in their approach to Holocaust education as well as their involvement with preserving the stories of Righteous Gentiles. As much as I teach about the history of the Holocaust, I make rescue and resistance a highlight of these lessons. It is a priority for me to make sure that my students learn the history of upstanders, the risks that they took, and the lives that they saved. I always want that to be the loudest message that they hear. I want them to realize that they can also be upstanders at school, in the community, and even in the world whenever they see bullying, prejudice, or injustice.

What was the most compelling thing you learned as an Alfred Lerner Fellow?
The speakers they offered during the summer residential program, and then as our educational guides throughout our travels in Lithuania and Poland, as well as the recommended readings were the best I have experienced. I found the book How was it Possible, to be the ultimate Holocaust source for learning more in-depth details about the Holocaust and how it happened, step-by-step, which is how I teach the Holocaust to my 8th-grade students. I constantly return to this book for information and guidance as I teach about the Holocaust.

What is your favorite memory from your participation in JFR programming?
Meeting the Righteous Gentiles in Lithuania who had risked their lives to rescue and help the Jews. I was also deeply impacted after visiting the many locations in our travels. Being at the Jedwabne memorial on the anniversary of the pogrom and meeting a man who was rescued from the pogrom as a child and hearing about his rescue, was so inspirational and memorable.

How do you feel the fellowship has impacted your life, both personally and professionally?
Being able to not just visit the locations, but having the opportunity to have our own special guides, allowed me to eventually use my unique experiences and newfound knowledge to enhance my teaching and better engage my students in the classroom.

Anything else you’d like to share with the JFR’s followers and supporters?
The JFR educational opportunities for teachers are above and beyond some of the most influential and inspirational lessons I have experienced in my continuing education as a Holocaust teacher. Meeting influential Holocaust scholars, authors, and survivors as well as having the opportunity to experience meeting the Righteous and hearing their stories, has given me more insight and enthusiasm to continue teaching this topic to my students.