Summer Teachers Institute Redux

A blog post by Education Director Ilene Dackman-Alon. To read more posts by Ilene click HERE.

Last week, the JMM held its 11^th Annual Summer Teachers Institute (STI) in partnership with the Baltimore Jewish Council and the Maryland State Department of Education.  STI is a professional development opportunity for teachers in the area of Holocaust Education.  The goal of the program is to give educators the opportunity to meet with scholars and experts who are in the trenches of teaching best practices of Holocaust education.   The topic of the Holocaust is so vast, and over the years we have touched on topics of Persecution to Liberation, Rescue and Resistance and Propaganda.  This year’s topic was Art and Remembrance-and teachers learned how the Arts were such an integral part of how many survived through the dark period of WWII and the reign of the Nazis.

We had phenomenal presenters this year at STI.  Our last day of the seminar included a presentation by Bernice Steinhardt, Executive Director of Art and Remembrance, who spoke about the beautiful tapestries made by her mother Esther Nisenthal Krinitz.  We heard testimony from Mrs. Golda Kalib and we had master teachers in area schools share lessons on the Holocaust they use in their own classrooms.

My favorite presentation on Wednesday was from Gail Prensky and Sarah Baumgarten,  and The Jüdische Kulturbund Project.  From 1933-1941, the Jewish Kulturbund (Jüdischer Kulturbund), consisting of thousands of members at its peak, performed in 42 theatres across Germany. When the Kulturbund closed, some members emigrated or went into hiding; most were sent to the camps. This is a little-known story of the power of music, resiliency of the human spirit, and will to survive. The  Jüdische Kulturbund Project work with educators and music specialists to produce materials and engaging experiences for the classroom.

Gail and Sarah facilitated a very engaging session for teachers. The mood and scene that these educators set for teachers was tremendous.  For more than 30 minutes, the JMM sounded like a classroom of students, engaged and having fun exploring their environment.  The intention of the program was  to explore issues resulting from the choice artists make everyday living under oppression.  The goals of the program was to encourage discussion amongst the teachers about social and cultural history, theatre, and music- and encouraging educators to think of  how the story the Jüdische Kulturbund is relevant today.

Following the session, Gail shared the video that she took of the teachers having a terrific time engaged in learning.  Enjoy.