Past is Present: A Year Later with Teachers and Junior Interns | USC Shoah Foundation

Past is Present: A Year Later with Teachers and Junior Interns

Christa Calkins

Christa Calkins

Christa Calkins, teacher from New York, was an IWitness Teaching Fellow at USC Shoah Foundation in July 2015. Read more

Christine Cole

Christine Cole

Christine Cole, teacher from Australia, was featured in her school’s newsletter, wrote a blog, led a unit on stereotyping and anti-Semitism and took her class to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum. Read more

Ingrid Alexovics

Ingrid Alexovics

Ingrid Alexovics, teacher from Hungary, spoke to her class about the trip and is building an IWalk about her city of Pécs. Read more

Charlotte Masters

Charlotte Masters

Charlotte Masters, Junior Intern from Washington, DC, published a poem inspired by Auschwitz, gave a presentation to her entire high school about the trip, and created the Survivors Speakers Bureau to bring Holocaust survivors into local schools. Read more

Jeannie Woods

Jeannie Woods

Jeannie Woods, teacher from Alabama, blogged throughout the trip to Poland, inspired two students to create their own website about Woods’ experience for a technology competition and participated in the IWitness Video Challenge. Read more

Keith Stringfellow

Keith Stringfellow

Keith Stringfellow, teacher from North Carolina, participated in USC Shoah Foundation’s #BeginsWithMe social media campaign and was an IWitness Teaching Fellow at USC Shoah Foundation in July 2015. Read more

Laura Pritchard Dobrin

Laura Pritchard Dobrin

Laura Pritchard Dobrin, teacher from Virginia, presented at the Virginia Association of Teachers of English conference, was an IWitness Teaching Fellow at USC Shoah Foundation in July 2015, and published an IWitness activity called Writing in Exile. Read more

Merinda Davis (far right)

Merinda Davis (far right)

Merinda Davis, teacher from Utah, created the “Roman Kent Peace Project” to inspire students to promote kindness and tolerance in their community. Read more

Larry Mikulcik

Larry Mikulcik

Larry Mikulcik, teacher from Canada, led a school assembly, two community presentations and a Holocaust Symposium with 300 students and teachers inspired by his experiences in Poland, and incorporated testimony into his history and language arts classes. Read more

Miljenko Hajdarovic (foreground)

Miljenko Hajdarovic (foreground)

Miljenko Hajdarovic, teacher from Croatia, was chosen along with 300 other educators to rewrite Croatia’s national curriculum; Hajdarovic will work on history and politics. Read more

Ruth Hernandez (center)

Ruth Hernandez (center)

Ruth Hernandez, Junior Intern from Pennsylvania, spoke about the trip in her history class and a local synagogue. Read more

Tracy Sockalosky

Tracy Sockalosky

Tracy Sockalosky, teacher from Massachusetts, has incorporated more primary sources and testimony into her lessons and created a lesson centered on Roman Kent’s speech at the commemoration. Read more

Lesly Culp

Lesly Culp

Lesly Culp, who managed the Junior Intern program during Auschwitz: The Past is Present, was proud of how the Junior Interns responded to the program and were inspired to create positive change in themselves and their community. Read more

Johanna Söderholm

Johanna Söderholm

Johanna Söderholm, teacher from Finland, has spoken and given interviews about her experience for dozens of organizations, schools and media outlets, led discussions and lessons with university and high school students, and translated and piloted Finnish-language IWitness activities. Read more

Karen Wells

Karen Wells

Karen Wells, teacher from Arkansas, appeared in “Auschwitz: The Past is Present Virtual Experience,” spoke to classes, presented at the Arkansas state library conference and collaborated with fellow APIP teachers Laura Pritchard Dobrin and Steven Howell on a proposal for the Arkansas Holocaust Conference. Read more

Jeffrey Langham with Robin Migdol at Auschwitz

Jeffrey Langham with Robin Migdol at Auschwitz

USC Shoah Foundation Webmaster Jeffrey Langham had an opportunity to go to Poland to provide communications support. "There is nothing that can prepare you for your first encounter with Auschwitz. It defies imagination," said Langham.