TOLI MINI-GRANT PROGRAM
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Feb
21
2020
Inviting a Holocaust survivor to speak at a Minnesota school, a field trip by Michigan students to visit a Holocaust Center, and a student competition for a traveling exhibit in Romania – these are a few of the projects that were created, spurred by TOLI mini-grants in the US and Europe.
TOLI offers teachers, alumni of the TOLI seminars, the ability to apply for mini-grants to fund projects at their schools. Awards are up to $1000 for US teachers and up to $300 for international teachers. These grants are used for a variety of purposes, including classroom resources, and field trips to relevant Holocaust centers or historic sites. Their purpose is to engage students even more deeply as they learn about the Holocaust, human rights, and social justice. Last year, in the United States, TOLI provided 12 mini-grants to teachers in Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, South Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin. In Europe, TOLI provided 55 mini grants: 22 in Romania, 15 in Bulgaria, 10 in Greece, 7 in Poland, and 1 in Republic of Moldova.
Some teachers, like Shannon Fox of Braham, Minnesota, used the funds to bring a Holocaust survivor to speak at their school. Survivor Fred Amram shared his experience with over 500 students and 100 community members at Braham High School. Prior to his arrival, students and staff from the Social Studies, English, and Art departments completed a variety of Holocaust-related projects that became their very own “museum.” This gallery of knowledge, along with Fred’s powerful testimony, was a tribute to the memory of the victims and lessons of the Holocaust.
After having students read Michael Gruenbaum’s memoir, “Somewhere There is Still a Sun,” both Johanna Toth and Kathy Ha, teachers from Portage, MI, used their mini-grants to take students to the Holocaust Memorial Center-Zekelman Family Campus in Farmington Hills. There, they participated in a docent-led tour and were able to meet with Holocaust survivor Irene Miller. Students later wrote a series of reflections about their experience. Johanna and Kathy didn’t stop there—they have since presented at a district-wide program for teachers, and next year they hope to send all 700 seventh grade students in their district on the trip.
In Romania, Charlotte Barbu used a competition to spark an interest in Holocaust education, pictured left. Eighty student participants used press clippings, printed materials, photographs, photocopies, and watercolors to create collages in a competition they called Jewish Memory Files. The students were then judged by a panel of Holocaust education experts, and the top three were awarded prizes. All the works were compiled into a moving exhibition, showing off both the students’ creativity and their understanding of the atrocities of the Holocaust.
More information about the TOLI mini-grant program can be found on our website.
For US mini-grants visit: https://www.toli.us/sponsored-programs/mini-grants/
For European mini-grants visit: https://www.toli.us/sponsored-programs/european-mini-grants/