What teachers are doing for April Genocide Awareness Month 2024

What teachers are doing for April Genocide Awareness Month 2024

In America, Social Studies teacher and 2020 HREC Educator Award recipient ๐——๐—ฟ. ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ž๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜† honours the ๐—จ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ด ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€ of genocide as a Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month project with her ๐—œ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—”๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜† (Washington Township, N.J.) students for their US History II Honours and Genocide and Film Classes.

Her students researched a person who, at great personal risk to themselves, tried to help victims of genocide find comfort and safety. They wrote a research paper and created a poster for exhibit in their school lobby AND in their public library. Her students also gave presentations to the public at the library on April 18 about the people they chose to honour, to showcase the bravery of their unsung hero and how it stands as a testament to our shared humanity, our capacity for compassion, and all the goodness we are capable of in the face of profound evil. A local news program filmed this event on April 18.

Dr. Kenneyโ€™s students also participated in the ๐—จ๐—ธ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—›๐—ผ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฐ organized by the ๐—จ.๐—ฆ. ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—›๐—ผ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—”๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€. Read more: https://www.immaculateheartnj.com/apps/news/article/1910658
The student competition organizers commended Dr. Sue Kenney for offering an extra credit assignment on the Holodomor. Many students took advantage of that opportunity and her student ๐—ฅ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป took first place ($500 USD) in the grade 11-12 category.
Read more: https://subscription.ukrweekly.com/2024/04/2024-holodomor-student-competition-announces-award-winners/

In Canada, Holodomor educator and 2023 HREC Educator Award recipient ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—บ ๐—–๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ shared with us her recent teaching experience with students on Earth Day (April 22) using parts of her winning lesson plan:

“I shared ๐˜ฝ๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™ฉ๐™ก๐™š ๐™ค๐™› ๐™‚๐™ง๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ [by author Rhea Good] and parts of my lesson โ€œThe Power of Hopeโ€ with two Grade 4 Social Studies classes on Monday. The students were very engaged, we discussed vocabulary, and they enjoyed the Venn Diagram activity comparing themselves to the character Maria in the book. I brought in a small glass bottle with Red Spring Wheat grains [a grain originally brought over to Canada from Ukraine] in it that inspired them in their work as well. Many also made connections to Earth Day and how the earth itself brought hope to Maria and her family such as โ€˜snowing, which added an extra layer of protection for the hidden bottles of grain.โ€™”

๐˜ฝ๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™ฉ๐™ก๐™š ๐™ค๐™› ๐™‚๐™ง๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ

Pam Clarkโ€™s award-winning lesson unit can be found here:
https://education.holodomor.ca/2023-hrec-educator-award-for-holodomor-lesson-plan-development-winner-pamela-clark/

Dr. Sue Kenneyโ€™s award-winning lesson plan can be found here:
https://education.holodomor.ca/2020-hrec-educator-award-for-holodomor-lesson-plan-development-winner-sue-kenney/

Thank you to both educators for increasing awareness of the Holodomor in your schools and teaching it in innovative and engaged ways in your classrooms!