Education Update

Remarks for our Annual Meeting by Erica Nadelhaft, HHRC Education Coordinator

As many of you already know, I’m Erica Nadelhaft, the Education Coordinator at the Holocaust and Human Rights Center. Before I tell you about some of the wonderful work that we have been doing, I want to recognize the members of the Education team, without whom much of this work could not happen. Piper Dumont, who works “behind the scenes” from her home in Colorado, has made the trip to be with us today. Piper did the majority of the work in creating our new program “Black Mainers:  A History of Resistance and Resilience”. She is also responsible for planning our summer teacher training seminar on addressing bias in the classroom. And Alex Magnaud, who does the bulk of our presentations in schools and keeps all of our programs up to date and running smoothly.

It does feel good to have the chance to talk about some of the things that we have accomplished. This work can be physically and emotionally draining, and at times we get lost in the enormity of what we do - and what is left for us to do. Moments like this remind us that we have made a dent. So I’d like to start with some numbers - some actually quite big numbers - to show just how far we have come. Over this past year, from September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2024, Alex and I drove a combined total of 11,259 miles around the state, bringing HHRC workshops and presentations to schools and communities. For the first time since I have been here, at least, we reached all sixteen Maine counties. We feel like we could be an ad for the post office, since we have been stopped neither by rain, nor snow, nor darkest night - or an ad for Subaru, since we both drive the same Subaru, just in different colors. We presented 140 programs, reaching 5,404 students, 1,155 teachers and staff, and 405 community members. Virtually every program that we offer was requested at least once. The most requested programs, particularly in the spring semester when teachers usually begin their units on the Holocaust, were Hate Speech in Schools, Antisemitism Past and Present, The Message Matters and Decision Making in Times of Injustice. 

In addition to our work with students and teachers, we have expanded the professional development opportunities that we provide to community organizations and school districts as a whole. While the work that we do in schools is critical, schools do not exist in isolation. They are part of the communities in which they are located. Parents, school boards, and local businesses and organizations are also dealing with antisemitism, hate speech, racism, and lack of knowledge or understanding of history and they too are looking for the tools and skills to understand and respond to what they are seeing and experiencing in their communities. This spring, for example, Alex and I were able to do two big programs for Maine General at their Augusta and Waterville hospitals. And just last month we did an all day training for teachers, administrators, counselors and other staff at a school district in south western Maine. These large scale opportunities allow us to bring the conversation into workplaces and organizations, most of whom understand that it’s not just a “checking the box” exercise, but rather the beginning of a process requiring long-term commitment.

Our work did not stop there, however. As antisemitism has skyrocketed both around the country and in Maine, I began to get calls not just from teachers, but from members of the community who were frightened, upset, and feeling helpless. After conversation with Tam, I decided to host a series of what we called “Community Conversations” to give people some grounding information and background as well as a safe space to talk about what they were hearing and experiencing in their lives, schools, and communities. There were three sessions, all held over Zoom, over the course of three months. The first session dealt specifically with antisemitism: where it comes from, how it morphs over time, and what we are seeing in the present day here in Maine. The second session considered Jewish resistance to antisemitism and persecution throughout history. The third session was a conversation about “what now?” It was an opportunity for participants to talk about their own experiences with antisemitism, here in Maine and elsewhere, how they felt their communities were responding, and to brainstorm ways to speak out on their own behalf and on behalf of others. The conversations were deep and at times difficult, but we were all glad to have taken part. 

The HHRC also collaborates with and supports the Maine Department of Education. In previous years, I worked with the Maine DOE to produce the online K-12 MOOSE modules series on the Holocaust and Genocide. This past year, following the state mandate to include Holocaust and genocide history in the curriculum, I worked with other teachers and content area specialists to integrate the Holocaust and other genocides into the new social studies and science standards. Other content area specialists worked to integrate African-American history and Indigenous history as well. It was a lengthy process: after the first draft was completed it was sent out for public comment and to the appropriate legislative committee. It was sent back for revisions, which led to more hours of work at the DOE. The new standards have now been returned to the legislature where they are hopefully making their way through the rest of the process. 

Since these mandates for teaching the Holocaust and African-American history were passed, we have continued to look at our programs to see how we can support teachers as they integrate new pieces into their curriculum. We have strengthened our Holocaust education programs to provide greater context and depth. We have developed a new program that allows teachers and students to interact with Holocaust artifacts from our archive collection. I chose three different artifacts for this program. Each comes complete with a lesson plan and activities that teachers and students can use as a way to dive into the history and meaning of the specific artifact they are viewing. We also developed a new program on the history of Black Mainers. This program, called “Black Mainers: A History of Resistance and Resilience”, introduces Black Maine history (not a comprehensive account, of course, but a start) through the lives of specific individuals from the early days of settlement through World War One. 

One other meaningful event that I’d like to mention before I turn the microphone over is the Yom HaShoah ceremony that we held last spring. For the first time in quite a while, we were able to host the event at the Klahr Center. It was open not only to staff and Board members, but to the wider community as well. We had community members participate in the readings, some of which I had chosen and some of which they chose themselves. Rabbi Asch from the Augusta synagogue led the Mourner’s Kaddish and the prayer El Mole Rachamim that is traditionally said for those who have died. We lit candles, read poems and excerpts from survivors and victims, and were able to mourn together all that was lost. Following the service, we gathered together over tea and coffee to talk, cry, give comfort to one another and acknowledge the importance of our community

So these are just a few of the highlights of the work that we have done this past year. We are grateful for your support and encouragement and I thank you for being here this evening to celebrate with us.