24 teacher programs are taking place this summer in the US and Europe.
In 2024, TOLI is conducting 24 programs for teachers in the US and Europe. As a result, hundreds of teachers are joining our global network of educators committed to gaining the knowledge and skills to teach the Holocaust and its lessons for today’s students. In the US, TOLI regional seminars are taking place in 10 cities across the country. In Europe, four new countries have joined the 10 that have been running, thanks to a generous grant from the Claims Conference.
SEMINARS IN THE UNITED STATES
TOLI regional seminar leaders from across the US gathered in Atlanta in June for a five-day conference to gain new knowledge, examine best practices, and strengthen personal connections with colleagues in the field of Holocaust education and human rights. The conference provided an opportunity to honor our Senior Director of US Programs, Sondra Perl, as she retires this year. Dr. Perl has created and led TOLI’s domestic programs since 2006 and has had an enormous impact on teachers and Holocaust education. Regional seminars this summer have taken place in California, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia/DC, and Wisconsin. Each four- or five- day program focused on the Holocaust and local histories of racism, as well as issues pertaining to genocide and human rights.
SEMINARS IN EUROPE
We have expanded our reach in Europe to four new countries – Albania, Georgia, Hungary, and Slovakia – thanks to a generous grant from the Claims Conference. Together with annual programs in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Spain, and Ukraine, TOLI has become a leading provider of Holocaust education for teachers in Europe. Our programs inspire teachers to develop local projects with their students, work together with the local Jewish communities, visit Holocaust-related sites, and find creative ways to promote social justice. All programs focus on the history and contemporary danger of antisemitism, which has reached the most alarming levels since the Holocaust. In addition, TOLI teachers from over 10 countries took part in our annual program for experienced Holocaust educators, this year in Croatia. This international seminar enabled teachers to learn from each other and build transnational programs, some of them with schools and students who are the beneficiaries of TOLI Impact Grants.
Amber Tilley: The Urgency of Teaching Holocaust Literature
Amber Tilley: The Urgency of Teaching Holocaust Literature
Amber Tilley, a teacher at Northland Pines High School, was raised in a small Wisconsin town. She recalls how profoundly moved she was by Elie Wiesel’s book “Night” when starting her career. She knew she wanted to teach the book and its depiction of Auschwitz and genocide, but she didn’t have any experience in Holocaust [...continue]
Impact Grants
Students in Dupnitsa, Bulgaria, remember Holocaust survivors and rescuers with a poster exhibition at their school. A project supported by TOLI impact grants.
TOLI EUROPEAN GRANTS REACH 47,000 STUDENTS
Since 2016, TOLI has provided impact grants to teachers who have participated in our seminars to support their classroom projects. The grants reached over 47,000 students , nearly 10,000 in eight countries last year. These grants help students learn about the Holocaust, human rights, and communities where almost all the Jewish population was destroyed by the Nazis and their local collaborators.
The grants, ranging from $250-$500, support research, field trips, and multimedia projects.
HANDBOOK FOR EUROPEAN TEACHERS
The TOLI Europe office has produced a handbook for an interdisciplinary approach to teaching the Holocaust and contemporary human rights. Based on the experience with thousands of teachers, the TOLI manual offers essential guidelines to European educators for maximum effect in classrooms.
BOOK FEATURES NARRATIVES BY TOLI TEACHERS
TOLI’S Associate Director of US Programs, Jennifer Lemberg, along with Maryland regional seminar leader Alexander “Sandy” Pope, co-edited Becoming a Holocaust Educator: Purposeful Pedagogy Through Inquiry (Teachers College Press & The National Writing Project), a volume of essays by educators in TOLI’s network describing their experiences teaching about the Holocaust and human rights.
