Looking Toward the Future: Bringing Lessons of the Holocaust to the Gulf South
Applications for the 2023 seminar are now open!
Looking Toward the Future is a seminar for educators at all levels desiring to deepen their understanding of the Holocaust. Through this investigative seminar, attendees will be challenged to think about ways to promote human rights and social justice in their classrooms. The inquiry-driven seminar uses writing to explore difficult topics with our students. Using local history, testimony from Holocaust survivors, field trips, and models from experienced educators, we will encourage critical thinking as we design curriculum and work to learn the best teaching practices for sharing the lessons of the Holocaust with young people today.
Field trips include a visit to a local synagogue, The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, and The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience.
Further Details:
- Books, materials, and entrance fees provided
- Meals: Breakfasts and lunches provided
- Professional development credit: 40 at no cost
- Out-of-town participants: Housing stipends of $300 for Hilton Garden Inn (double occupancy)
Thank you to the Jewish Federation of Baton Rouge for its generous support of our 2023 Louisiana Seminar.
Leaders
-
Penny Kinchen
Penny Kinchen is the English department chairman at Central Private School in Central, Louisiana. She has taught junior high English grammar, composition, and literature for 21 years. She began teaching Holocaust studies in 2013 in her literature class where she became immersed in expanding her knowledge about the Holocaust. In 2016, she attended the TOLI summer seminar in New York City which solidified her commitment to teaching about social justice using the lens of the Holocaust. Since then, she has attended the Holocaust Education Network Leadership Conference in 2017, a TOLI satellite seminar in Jackson, Mississippi in 2018, and the Belfer Conference for educators at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, in 2018. She is also a graduate of the National Writing Project at LSU in 2015.
-
Amber Tilley
Amber Tilley, English Language Arts teacher at Northland Pines High School in Eagle River, has been an educator for 25 years. She has focused on social justice throughout her career, but after having read Night by Elie Wiesel, also became passionate about Holocaust education. In 2011, Amber traveled to eastern Europe and visited Holocaust sites, including Ponar, Majdanek, Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Terezin. In 2013, she went to Israel and studied at Yad Vashem. Amber took part in the 2016 TOLI Summer Seminar, furthering her understanding of Holocaust education and establishing herself in a network of Holocaust educators. She has a BA in English, a M.Ed in Education, and is also a National Board Certified Teacher.
Return to Regional Seminar Programs