agenda interesting bits & can’t miss events
Auburn Hillel had its annual beginning of the year bagel event on Aug. 23 at Beth Shalom
B’ham Holocaust Education Center honors those who teach the next generation One of the main activities of the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center is facilitating the training of teachers across the state, giving them the tools to teach the Holocaust and apply its lessons to today’s society. The Aug. 23 L’Chaim event paid tribute to those educators, and to Brenda and Fred Friedman, who have underwritten scholarships that enable those educators to go on national and international seminars and conferences. In the past 10 years, 75 teachers have received scholarships. BHEC President Phyllis Weinstein, in paying tribute to the Friedmans, said “it is breathtaking to contemplate how many people have been affected by these 75 teachers.” She noted that the teachers “tell us over and over again that it is a life-changing experience.” Deborah Layman said the teachers “lead the students to make connections to their own lives and the world around us,” and they emerge ready to make a difference. Numerous teachers received Friedman scholarships this summer. Amy McDonald of Shades Valley High School in Birmingham did the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous Advanced Seminar and the European Study Program, and Kate Gholston of Opelika Middle School did the Advanced Seminar. The JFR Lerner Fellowship Program was attended by Mike Gadilhe of John Carroll High School in Birmingham, and Farrah Hayes of Sardis High School in Sardis City. Ken Wiggins of Ranburne High School attended the Jan Karski Institute for Holocaust Education. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Belfer Conference was attended by Melody Campbell of Sparkman Middle School in Toney, Karen Coleman of Horseshoe Bend School in New Site, Brittany Watters of Anniston High School, and Birmingham teachers Rachel Hartsell of St. Francis Xavier Catholic School, Dominique Linchet of Alabama School of Fine Arts and Darby Baird of Homewood Middle School. Baird teaches sixth grade, and “I’d wanted to learn a lot more on how
to teach the Holocaust to my students,” she said. When she started teaching the topic six years ago, there was just one paragraph in the textbook. She attended a workshop at Temple Emanu-El and felt she had a decent handle on the information, but there were a lot of questions the students had but she could not answer. Baird met local Holocaust survivor Ruth Siegler, and that “lit a fire” for her to learn more. At Belfer, she was affected and humbled Gen. Charles Krulak by hearing the story of a survivor, and was floored when he thanked her for teaching the stories of the survivors. She thanked the Friedmans “for lighting that fire and giving us the teaching tools that we need.” A video was screened from a class project led by McDonald’s students, where they each did videos about meeting eight local survivors and what they had learned from the encounters. Fred Friedman spoke about the “life-altering work” of BHEC “whose mission is to remember the past in order to shape the future.” He said “Brenda and I are in awe of the wonderful, talented teachers” who have participated in these programs. “The Holocaust happened in a world similar to the one we live in today,” but in response “we are armed with the weapons of community organizations like BHEC” that teach the lessons of the Holocaust. The event, which was held at the Alabama School of Fine Arts theatre, raised about $145,000, and this was the first time the BHEC used a crowdfunding platform for their event. Marking the 70th anniversary of liberation, there was a dramatic reading, “What We Saw: In the Words of the Liberators,” featuring actors from
September 2015 • Southern Jewish Life 5