High school students learn about the Holocaust and more at PBSC during Peace and Unity Conference

One hundred and thirty high school students and their teachers from Donna Klein Jewish Academy and the Palm Beach Preparatory Charter Academy visited Palm Beach State College’s Lake Worth campus on Thursday, Nov. 7, to participate in a Peace and Unity Conference presented by PBSC’s Corporate and Continuing Education department, inSIGHT Through Education and the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum.

During the conference, which was held during Holocaust Education Week in Florida, students participated in a panel discussion on the relationships between different groups of people during turbulent times and how peace and unity brought these groups together rather than dividing them.

“At this conference, PBSC’s Corporate and Continuing Education department played a significant role in unleashing our young generation of students’ spirits with peace and unity education alongside our partners from Insight Through Education, Spady Museum and Palm Beach County Schools,” said CCE Director Deborah Gordon.

The conference also included a Spady Museum exhibit showcasing the close relationship between the Jewish and African American communities.  The relationship included African Americans teaching English to Jewish Holocaust survivors when they came to America, and a relationship in which leaders of each group jointly worked to launch a movement for racial equality in the United States.

Panelists were: PBSC sociology professor Dr. Luis Fleischman, Dr. Brian Knowles, manager of the Office of African, African American, Latino, and Holocaust Studies at the School District of Palm Beach County, and pastor of The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous Chris Edmonds.

Students also got a tour of the Hate Ends Now Cattle Car exhibit, which is currently traveling through 30 Palm Beach County schools and reaching nearly 20,000 students. The traveling, immersive Holocaust classroom features a replica WWII cattle car video on all four walls for a 360° effect while bringing history to life.

One student from Donna Klein Jewish Academy in attendance was senior Elai Avidor.

“This conference was a nice affirmation that the Jews are getting the support they need. It gives hope and it’s inspiring to see.”

The exhibit was funded after inSIGHT Through Education’s made their first appropriations request through the Florida Department of Education. The request passed with the help of Florida Representative Peggy Gossett-Seidman and Senator Lori Berman.

Representative Gossett Seidman; Tory Gras from Senator Berman’s office: Kelly Warsaw, inSIGHT through Education’s board president, Marc Hopin, CEO of the Ferd & Gladys Alpert Jewish Family Services; and Rick Paul, board chair of the Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Service also toured the exhibit and spoke during a press conference that day on the importance of the exhibit and educating our youth about the Holocaust.

“This is such a gratifying and needed project and was in my top two priorities,” said Gossett-Seidman.

Gras also stated the importance of the exhibit. “Unfortunately, we need this project. You wouldn’t believe how many kids today don’t know about the Holocaust.”

For more information about PBSC’s CCE department, visit www.palmbeachstate.edu/CCE. For more information about inSIGHT Through Education, contact executive director Mercedes Arensberg at mercedes.arensberg@insightthrougheducation.org. For more information on the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, visit www.spadymuseum.com.

 

To view photos from the conference, click here.