WEST ORANGE, New Jersey – The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR) has selected 21 middle and high school teachers from 12 states and four educators at U.S.-based Holocaust centers, as 2021 Alfred Lerner Fellows to delve into the complex history of the Holocaust as well as discuss new teaching techniques for introducing the subject into their classrooms. The JFR’s Summer Institute, the Fellowship’s intensive five-day course, was held virtually from June 27 through July 1.

The program is a high-level, intensive academic seminar in which participants attended lectures given by noted Holocaust scholars including Doris Bergen, Jeffrey Burds, Benjamin Carter Hett, Lawrence Douglas, Steven Field, Daniel Greene, Peter Hayes, Samuel Kassow, Paul Salmons, Stanlee Stahl, Robert Jan van Pelt, Edward Westermann and Alexandra Zapruder. The event is designed to allow participants to meet in small groups following each lecture, address the specific aspect of the Holocaust that is presented, and share teaching concepts and develop approaches to introducing the subject matter to their students.

Teachers selected for the program must be English or social studies teachers at the middle or high school level, have taught at least five years, are at least five years from retirement and currently teach the Holocaust in their classroom.

Each participant comes from a region of the country where the JFR operates Holocaust Centers of Excellence in conjunction with a local Holocaust museum or center.

“There are three main goals of our program, which include: providing teachers with graduate level courses on the Holocaust; pedagogical connections with other teachers and their curriculum so they learn what’s worked and what hasn’t; and to give them resources for the classroom,” said JFR Executive Vice President Stanlee Stahl.  

The 2021 Lerner Fellows are:

• Zoe Weil from the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center in Birmingham, AL
• Haley Walker from Irondale Middle School in Irondale, AL
• Amanda Ladd from Eagles Landing Middle School in Boca Raton, FL
• Charles Hagy, Jr. from the Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, FL
• Patrice Weaver from the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust in Sandy Springs, GA
• Margaret Berry from John F. Kennedy Middle School in Plainfield, IL
• Julie Klein from Trinity High School in River Forest, IL
• Kristen Blackton from St. Peter's Catholic School in Kansas City, MO
• Christopher Roberts from the Arthur L. Johnson High School in Clark, NJ
• Rachel Worrall from Egg Harbor Township High School in Egg Harbor Township, NJ
• Marissa Crimoli from the William R Satz Middle School in Holmdel, NJ
• Kirsten Huze from Passaic Preparatory Academy in Passaic, NJ
• Susan Kenney from Immaculate Heart Academy in the Township of Washington, NJ
• Shawn Riggins from Cumberland County Technical Education Center in Vineland, NJ
• Andrew Eggerding from Wyoming High School in Wyoming, OH
• Libby Buchanan from the Zanesville High School in Zanesville, OH
• Megan Pankiewicz from Canon-McMillan High School in Canonsburg, PA
• Peter Mysels from Pennslyvania Distance Learning Charter School in Wexford, PA
• Stacy Steele from Lancaster High School in Lancaster, SC
• Justin Gadsden from Palmetto Scholars Academy in North Charleston, SC
• Amy Frake from the Holocaust Museum Houston in Houston, TX
• John Buzanga from the Holocaust Museum Houston in Houston, TX
• Paula Miller from The Woodlands High School in The Woodlands, TX
• Hashim Davis from Albemarle High School in Charlottesville, VA
• Paul Regelbrugge from the Holocaust Center for Humanity in Seattle, WA

The Fellowship program is named in memory of Alfred Lerner, the founding chairman and chief executive officer of MBNA Corporation, who died in October of 2002. Lerner was a long-time advisor and supporter of JFR programs and activities. His deep commitment to the work of JFR and in particular to his special interest in the field of Holocaust education, led to the seminar being endowed in his name.