Combined Jewish Philanthropies Helps Make History Palpable In Her Classroom, Melrose High School History Teacher Kim Hubbard ’14 (MAT-History) Brings the Past to Life “Students need to see that so much of what we’re experiencing now— as a nation and as individuals— has already happened to varying degrees,” Kim Hubbard ’14 says. “This knowledge helps students to shape their world in positive ways.” She credits the teacher education programs at Salem State University’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies with giving her effective methods, such as firsthand accounts and engaging activities, to make some of history’s most difficult chapters relevant and real in the classroom. The center empowers students, educators and communities across the region to combat racism, prejudice, ethnic hatred, and abuse of authority— the root causes of mass violence and atrocities. It achieves this through wide-ranging educational programs, including the workshops that benefit Hubbard and hundreds of other teachers each year.
16
YOUR IMPACT IN ACTION
Making much of this work possible is Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), Massachusetts’ largest nonprofit organization and a key funder since the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies launched at Salem State in 2012 when it merged the collections and programs of the former Peabody-based Holocaust center. “Teaching the lessons of the Holocaust and other atrocities to students and educators is critical in ensuring that future generations will understand the consequences of hate in its many forms,” explains Rabbi Marc Baker, CEO of Combined Jewish Philanthropies. “This work has a tremendous bearing on our country now—so many are feeling pain, hurt and anger as a result of systemic racial injustice,” he continues. “It’s incumbent on us to listen to and learn from victims of injustice—past and present—and act to repair our world. We believe in and are really grateful for the center’s work.”
