Jody Orr: Connecting the Past to Today’s Human Rights Challenges

In June, Jody Orr attended our seminar in Boise, Idaho.

Jody is a middle school educator with five years of classroom teaching experience, primarily teaching 7th through 9th grade European History and Reading Intervention. Holocaust education is a central part of her World War II curriculum, where she helps students examine how the Holocaust occurred, its devastating consequences, and its continuing relevance to contemporary human rights issues. She incorporates inquiry-based resources such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s “Behind Every Name” series, survivor testimonies, collaborative discussions, and district-wide human rights programming through the Wassmuth Center to encourage students to engage deeply with individual stories and broader historical themes.

Before entering education, Jody worked as a professional writer and earned a master’s degree in Comparative Political Ideology, experiences that enrich her teaching with historical and political context. She also brings a deeply personal connection to World War II through her father, a U.S. Air Force veteran who served in Europe, witnessed the aftermath of the Holocaust, and preserved hundreds of letters documenting his wartime experiences. His stories continue to inspire her commitment to helping students understand history through both personal narratives and historical evidence.

Teaching in a diverse Title I school, Jody works with many students from immigrant families who are directly affected by current debates surrounding immigration and human rights. She believes that studying the Holocaust and other historical injustices equips students to critically evaluate misinformation, understand the consequences of prejudice and discrimination, and recognize their responsibility to protect human rights.

Our seminar in Idaho broadened Jody’s global understanding of human rights and provided additional historical perspectives that connect the Holocaust, Japanese American incarceration, and other refugee and displacement experiences. As her district expands its World War II curriculum, Jody saw our seminar as an ideal opportunity to strengthen her instruction with new scholarship, teaching strategies, and resources.