Cameron Gupton joins the first cohort of IWitness Fellows passionate about IWitness and looking forward to learning new methods for teaching the Holocaust.

Gupton has been teaching American History for two years and has worked in both traditional schools and early colleges, including Greene Early College High School in North Carolina. Gupton has been a Teach For America Corps Member, a Gilder Lehrman Seminar participant at Stanford University, and serves on numerous committees at the school level.

This July, the first IWitness Summer Teacher Fellows will spend three days at the USC Shoah Foundation office in Los Angeles working with the Institute’s education staff to learn more about IWitness and develop new activities. The fellows come from around the country and teach a variety of subjects and grade levels.

Gupton has been using IWitness in his classroom as part of his American History II curriculum for the past two years. He also uses IWitness and Echoes and Reflections to teach about tolerance and justice as well. He said his favorite resources are the materials on the Sobibor Uprising, Kristallnacht, and children’s stories of the Holocaust.

He said he applied to the IWitness Summer Teacher Fellowship for the opportunity to collaborate with educators with a passion for Holocaust education.

“I look forward to sharing ideas and strategies for conveying the Holocaust and its impact in a way that positively impacts my students, their community, and the world,” Gupton said. “Furthermore, I look forward to engaging in and creating relevant resources and lessons.”

During the fellowship, Gupton is most excited about interacting and learning from the other fellows and staff and learning from their instructional methods and insights. He also hopes to learn more about USC Shoah Foundation’s mission and impact and achieve a more well-rounded knowledge of Holocaust education and how to incorporate it into his classroom instruction.

He believes IWitness allows students to gain “tangible insight” into the Holocaust, and connect with history on a much deeper level through real faces and stories.

“IWitness takes the Holocaust from pen and paper to the real world for students,” he said. “IWitness is key to not just teach but to inspire and change through education.”