TOLI SHIFTS ITS 2020 TEACHER PROGRAMS TO ONLINE FORMAT
Because of the Coronavirus crisis, and out of concern for the well-being of teachers, TOLI has cancelled all in-person seminars this year and shifted many to online formats in the US and Europe. We are heartened by the enthusiasm and commitment to the programs by all the teachers who have registered.
The Olga Lengyel Institute (TOLI) provides professional development seminars for educators in the US and abroad that link the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides to current world events, thereby working with teachers to promote a human rights and social justice agenda in their classrooms.
BRINGING LESSONS OF THE HOLOCAUST TO THE CLASSROOM
TOLI in US and Europe
United States
TOLI has shifted to virtual programming for all its US programs. Using Zoom and other platforms, we are able to maintain the integrity of the teachers’ seminars by offering virtual interactive participation that is essential to the TOLI methodology. The national seminar, usually held in New York City, has been convening monthly sessions that began in July and will run through next spring. Satellite programs have offered seminars of different lengths that included workshops on Anti-semitism, film screenings, and conversations with Holocaust survivors. Satellite leaders have also formed study groups on the topic of systemic racism and how Holocaust education can address institutional, cultural, and personal change. In addition to the national and satellite seminar programs, TOLI has introduced network-wide events held approximately every six weeks. These well-attended events have offered a wide range of programs open to TOLI participants from all years and locations. Continue to US Programs in 2020.
Europe
In Europe, where seminars were planned for nine countries, programs have largely continued, but online. Adjusting to the new format, the seminars are extended to weekly events over extended time. Much of the emphasis will be devoted to the hundreds of graduates of TOLI seminars, providing ongoing professional development. The highlight in 2020 for TOLI Europe is a 10-week online seminar for 40 teachers from several European countries. Coordinated by TOLI International Programs Director Oana Nestian-Sandu, this will be TOLI’s first transnational seminar for European teachers, bringing together educators from 15 countries.For more information, see International Programs in 2020.
KASIA LAZIUK: KEEPING JEWISH MEMORY ALIVE IN POLAND
Katarzyna Laziuk knew little about the Jewish history of Mińsk Mazowiecki, the small Polish city east of Warsaw when she was growing up. But as a teacher, Kasia, as everyone calls her, has been in forefront to document and present that history and to educate about the Holocaust, which ended a 400-years of Jews living in her city
Once she began on this mission, some 11 years ago, it became a special journey for Kasia. Today, Kasia is TOLI National Coordinator for Poland.
Before World War II, thousands of Jews lived in Mińsk Mazowiecki (not to be confused with Minsk, once a major center of Jewish life and today the capital of Belarus). Most of them were killed when the Nazis liquidated the Mińsk ghetto on July 21, 1942 and sent 5000 Jews by train to the Treblinka extermination camp. There, about 1300 were shot in the streets of Mińsk Mazowiecki, while most of the others died in the death camp. Another 650 of Mińsk’s remaining Jews were killed in 1943. Only one Jewish family remains in the city.
For much of the 22 years she was a local high-school teacher, Kasia wasn’t really aware of that history. But 11 years ago, Kasia’s school hosted over 100 Israeli students to prepare for the visit. That’s when she began researching Jewish history and Judaism. Since then, she has been active in teaching the Holocaust and preserving the memory of Jews from her hometown. Every year, she organizes a commemoration on the anniversary of the destruction of the Jewish ghetto, a moving event bringing students and the public. Read Full Profile Here
TOLI in the News
Times Of Israel – As Holocaust Awareness Declines in US, Youth Make Art to Preserve Fading History
NY’s Olga Lengyel Institute reacts to disturbing new research about lack of once common Holocaust facts, highlighting its new ‘How High School Students See the Holocaust’ exhibit By MATT LEBOVIC September […continue]
TOLI STATEMENT ON RACISM AND PROTESTS IN THE US
We at TOLI, like so many others, are deeply disturbed over the senseless killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, and the far too many other […continue]
Mini-Grants
Graduates of TOLI Summer Seminars are eligible to apply for mini-grants to support projects in their classrooms, their schools, and their communities. Grants are awarded to support a wide variety of classroom work, visits by Holocaust survivors, field trips to Holocaust centers and other relevant sites, and extended programming and community outreach that bring Holocaust and social justice education to wider audiences.
Learn about Mini-Grants
Euro-Grants
Graduates of our summer seminars in Europe are eligible to apply for mini-grants of up to $300 for projects in their classrooms, their schools, and their communities. These grants have been used to support teaching students about the Holocaust, human rights, Jewish life in their country or community, discrimination, tolerance, and respect for diversity.
Learn about Euro-GrantsSatellite Programs
While TOLI has had to cancel or alter these programs because of coronavirus, the following indicates the many seminars scheduled in 2020 and that will take place in 2021.
The Satellite Seminars bring TOLI programs to teachers across the country. These five-day seminars are designed to provide a collaborative and safe environment in which teachers can explore the difficult subject of the Holocaust and other genocides. While each Satellite focuses on local issues, the overall goal is for teachers in all of the Satellites to leave with strategies, materials, and ideas for use in their own classrooms. One long-term goal is for teachers to become advocates for social change and to return to their classrooms with action plans that will enable them and their students to have a positive impact on their communities.
Satellite Locations
- Sacramento, California,
- Phoenix, Arizona
- Ligonier, Indiana
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Salisbury, Maryland
- Farmington Hills, Michigan
- Saint Cloud, Minnesota
- Jackson, Mississippi
- Billings, Montana
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Portland, Oregon
- Sterling, Virginia
- Milwaukee (Fox Point), Wisconsin
International Programs
In Europe, where seminars were planned for nine countries, programs have largely continued, but online. Adjusting to the new format, the seminars are extended to weekly events over extended time. Much of the emphasis will be devoted to the hundreds of graduates of TOLI seminars, providing ongoing professional development. The highlight in 2020 for TOLI Europe is a 10-week online seminar for 40 teachers from several European countries. Coordinated by TOLI International Programs Director Oana Nestian-Sandu, this will be TOLI’s first transnational seminar for European teachers, bringing together educators from 15 countries.For more information, see International Programs in 2020.