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Resident urges Upper Dublin board to expand Holocaust education at high school
Summary
Dan Schwartz, a second-generation survivor and member of the Holocaust Awareness Museum and Education Center, told the board he did not find Holocaust education at the high school and urged the district to invite survivor speakers and review the curriculum; district staff said Holocaust topics are included in world history and literature and that the district partners with Gratz College.
At the Dec. 15 legislative meeting of the Upper Dublin School District Board, resident Dan Schwartz urged the board to examine Holocaust instruction at the high school and to consider inviting survivors or second-generation speakers to share personal testimony.
Schwartz said he has spoken with students and, based on those conversations, was not aware of Holocaust education at the high-school level. He identified himself as a second-generation survivor and a board member of the Holocaust Awareness Museum and Education Center in Jenkintown and offered the museum's resources and volunteer speakers.
Superintendent Dr. Smith and staff member Miss Drennan responded that Holocaust-related material is taught in world history and world literature courses, that students read Elie Wiesel's Night, that the district conducts a Yom HaShoah ceremony annually, and that the district works with Gratz College on visits to middle and high school students.
Schwartz asked the board to "try to think about why" the high school may lack what he perceived as comprehensive Holocaust education and offered to collaborate to expand programming; administration said it would follow up and welcomed the offer to connect with community partners.
No formal curriculum change or vote occurred at the meeting; the exchange resulted in an administrative acknowledgement and an offer of partnership.
