MAKING A LIST
Shelly Danz offers advice on how to manage your bar mitzvah invitation list. Page 30
VOL. XCII NO. 40
SIMCHAS, PAGES 26-49 HEALTHY 101 ABRACADABRA Celia Levitt is living proof of the benefits of a good diet and clean habits. Page 42
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Weber School student Ari Slomka’s sleight of hand is taking him to Korea. Page 44
OCTOBER 13, 2017 | 23 TISHREI 5778
6th-Graders’ Nazi Mascot Assignment ‘Not Appropriate’ By Sarah Moosazadeh sarah@atljewishtimes.com A Shiloh Middle School social studies teacher is out of the classroom and under investigation by the Gwinnett County Public Schools after giving sixthgraders an assignment to create a colorful mascot for the Nazi Party to use at a rally in Germany in 1935. Sloan Roach, the school system’s executive director of communication and media relations, said the assignment, which angered parents, was an unapproved effort by the teacher to fulfill the Georgia Standards of Excellence curriculum, which calls for sixth-graders to learn about Nazism, propaganda and the events that led to the Holocaust. “Any time something like this happens, it unfortunately becomes a great teachable moment for all teachers to think about the resources that are out there on the Internet,” Roach said. “Although the teacher had good intentions of trying to teach the lesson, it was not appropriate.” The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust and the Anti-Defamation League’s Southeast Region said in a joint news release Tuesday, Oct. 10, that the Shiloh lesson did not appropriately or accurately address the state standards. “This assignment trivializes the history of the Holocaust and does not
address how and why the Holocaust happened,” the statement reads. “Understanding the Holocaust is far more complex, requiring examination of the many motives that drove the choices of individuals, organizations and governments, which ultimately led to genocide.” The commission and ADL work together to provide educational materials. Allison Padilla-Goodman, the ADL’s Southeast regional director, said the commission has wonderful resources to apply lessons from the Holocaust to the modern day. “So many schools are doing great things as far as Holocaust education goes, but that’s because they take it seriously and the entire school really cares and is committed to having students learn about this … event in our history.” Roach said social studies teachers in Gwinnett are provided materials from a database that includes lessons vetted and taught by other teachers in the county. “We understand that teachers may often have ideas or certain ways they may want to teach things, but there is a process at the local school level on how to do so,” she said. Roach said Shiloh Principal Eli Welch has talked to the staff about proper processes. He also spoke to the parents who complained about the assignment. The situation helps the system en-
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A Positive Public School Moment Renee Evans (left), a Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta advisory board member, and Joanne Birnbrey (right), the chair of Federation’s 2018 Integrated Community Campaign, present the special Jewish Engagement Community Award to (from left) parent Beth Gaan, Johns Creek High School Principal Jimmy Zoll, Fulton County Schools Assistant Superintendent Christopher Matthews, Rabbi Chaim Neiditch of Jewish Student Union and Johns Creek Assistant Principal Carlton Harris on Sept. 27. Also honored was Fulton Board of Education member Linda McCain. Each was recognized for the school’s quick response to a bullying situation that bordered on anti-Semitism. “I have never experienced a group of individuals from a school system jump into action, achieving excellence for not only one family, but all special education students in Fulton County,” Evans said. “It was exceptional, showing the value of collaborating in a caring, focused way.”
sure “teachers are aware of what’s out there and using what’s provided by the district for them,” Roach said. “We are always looking at ways we can improve our curriculum.” School counselors have been available to meet with students about the assignment, she said. “In situations such as
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this, they are obviously more in tune and looking to see if a student is interested or needs to talk about something.” The incident is one of several in public and non-Jewish private schools in the past couple of years in which Jewish students faced bullying or harassment or questionable approaches were used to teach about the Holocaust. Danielle Cohen, a co-founder of the Atlanta Initiative Against Anti-Semitism, said such incidents are the reason AIAAS has scheduled an education-focused forum called TASK (Tackling Anti-Semitism for Our Kids) on Nov. 8. “We hear about these kinds of situations and incidents almost daily now,” she said. “I think there are always ways to enhance education, empathy, character building, and social and emotional learning, which we are hoping to accomplish.” ■