A staff of more than forty knowledgeable and committed docents are eager to share their passion about teaching the Holocaust. However, ever-tightening school budgets in the wake of a troubled economy have resulted in a reduction in field trips for many school districts. Further concerns about security issues due to the developing war in Iraq have caused some school groups to cancel their already-scheduled tours.

As a result, the Weinberg Center, under the dedicated leadership of Pat Pugrant, has worked on expanding its community outreach program to meet these needs. Existing projects, including bringing high school students to showings of Schindler's List, as well as scheduling Holocaust survivors to speak at area schools, are being enriched by the addition of docents accompanying the guest speakers to introduce the program and help field questions afterward.

Pat Pugrant and Herbert Kohn were recently at Loganville Middle School, where a teacher reported, "Mr. Kohn did an excellent job relating the Holocaust to other events such as Columbine that the students are familiar with. This allowed the students to see how their decisions can affect the lives of others." Another teacher commented, "There is such a difference between reading about the Holocaust and hearing about the event from someone who was there."

The Center has also recognized the need to provide a stronger historical context to frame the survivors' stories, to help students better understand the scope of what happened during the Holocaust. Enter Rose Haber and her committee of former teachers Ellen Schwartz, Ellen Herold, Trudy Davis, Jennifer Walters and Miriam Cole. This group has been meeting since February to develop a 45-minute "Holocaust 101" presentation to take to schools. Working with Weinberg Center Director Carla Singer, they have developed a script and selected visuals from a Holocaust poster set created by the Anti-Defamation League. Next, they will present their efforts to the entire docent group and recruit participants for a training program. The Center plans to offer "Holocaust 101" in the 2003-2004 school year.

For further information about the Weinberg Center for Holocaust Education and its community outreach programs, contact Carla Singer, Director of the Weinberg Center, at (404) 870-1872.

The Weinberg Center is a program of The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, an affiliate agency of Federation. The William Breman Jewish Hearitage Museum received an allocation of $191,788 in FY03.