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Program Highlights

The Testimony to Tolerance Initiative has reached out to schools and the greater community of Central Arkansas to provide for nine professional development workshops reaching 238 teachers and library media specialists, the establishment of three ADAPT (Advocating Diversity and Promoting Tolerance) clubs in schools reaching 103 students, two Art and Writing contests with a total of 88 entries from students throughout the Central Arkansas area, nine community outreach programs reaching 528 community members, and five student workshops reaching 182 students. The following are key highlights over the past three years.

• Beginning in 2007, the Central Arkansas Library System (hereto referred to as CALS) and the University Of Southern California Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education (hereto referred to as the Institute) worked together to recruit and hire an education coordinator to serve as liaison between the CALS, the Institute, and the community.

• On April 17, 2007, the Little Rock Visual History Collection, a representational collection of 26 testimonies of Holocaust Survivors and other witnesses from the Institute’s archive, including several testimonies recorded in Arkansas, was made available to the public through the Central Arkansas Library System.

• A community-wide event was organized to publicly launch the Testimony of Tolerance Initiative which included a press conference on April 15, 2007. The program was previewed at a community-wide "Holocaust Remembrance Day Observance" sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Arkansas on April 14, 2007, in which Steven Klappholz, the Institute's Executive Director of Development, addressed the audience and screened a reel of testimony clips from the Little Rock Visual History Collection.

• In September of 2007, the Institute prepared a "Fact Sheet" (see addendum A) about The Testimony to Tolerance Initiative for the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, In order to generate public awareness of the Initiative, the education site coordinator distributed the fact sheet along with the USC Shoah Foundation Institute newsletter to Little Rock, Arkansas residents and community members at the Third Annual Jewish Food Festival on October 21, 2007.

• We are excited to report that on January 4, 2008, we conducted our first Testimony to Tolerance workshop for educators in the Little Rock School District (LRSD) and surrounding community leaders in the Little Rock area. This first workshop was very successful. Fifty (50) classroom teachers and ten (10) individuals representing various tolerance organizations and/or projects actively participated in this full-day workshop designed to provide the participants with the skills to integrate the Little Rock Visual History Testimony Collection into curriculum activities.

Using excerpts of testimony from the Little Rock Visual History Collection, Sheila Hansen, Manager of Education, led the workshop. In addition to viewing the visual history testimonies, workshop participants engaged in discussions around issues of prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination based upon real-world issues and problems; Ms. Hansen provided pedagogical strategies on how similar discussions could be structured and adapted for immediate delivery in participants’ classrooms.

Through this workshop, we achieved our primary goal: to familiarize teachers with the Little Rock Visual History Collection and ways in which to incorporate the visual history testimonies into their classroom lessons. We provided each workshop participant a copy of a one-hour testimony workshop reel along with the lesson and a series of customized classroom activities to incorporate into their classes, thereby reaching thousands of students in the Little Rock School District. Each participant also received a pack of educational documentaries and products produced by the USC Shoah Foundation Institute. We also started a dialogue with participants about potential student activism and other community outreach activities that could be implemented during and after school, potentially impacting thousands of students in the Little Rock area.

We have really enjoyed the Testimony to Tolerance program. The resources that you provided for us are great! I have learned valuable information and have been inspired from everyone workshop. As a librarian, I share this information with teachers on a daily basis. Our Social Studies teachers use the materials and information with their classes. You guys have done a great job! As a school who was impacted by the Civil Rights movement, I think this program has reminded us that we should always "walk in someone else’s shoes" to learn from their experiences and impact the world!

Stella Cameron
Central High School Librarian and workshop participant

• In April 2008, Amanda Ferguson, Educational Site Coordinator, traveled to Los Angeles where she completed an intensive training program at the USC Shoah Foundation Institute in Los Angeles on the use of visual history testimony in the classroom.

• On May 9, 2008 as a way to raise awareness of the program in the community and at the request of the Jewish Federation of Arkansas (JFAR), Amanda Ferguson (Educational Site Coordinator) went to the home of Silvana Berlinski to speak to the JFAR young Leadership group known as Kadima about the Initiative. This group was very excited to hear about the program and had a very lively discussion. Participants included business people, teachers, fundraisers and others from JFAR. We looked at some of the lessons and activities such as Pyramid of Hate and the Timeline Activity, two of the customized educational activities developed by the Institute for the Testimony to Tolerance Initiative and discussed how testimony is used with them. Thirty (30) people attended the discussion this evening, and the partnership between CALS and the Jewish Federation of Arkansas was strengthened.

• Amanda Ferguson, the Educational Site Coordinator was invited by Erica Ivy, a teacher at McClellan High School, to her school to present the ADAPT (Advocating Diversity and Promoting Tolerance) club to the acting principal. ADAPT, a program developed by the Institute, is a school based student club that encourages the engagement in multi-cultural awareness and tolerance. After this meeting, approval was given by the principal and the first ADAPT club was established at McClellan High School with a membership of 50 students. McClellan already supports a LOVE (Let Our Violence End) club, so arrangements were made for the LOVE club to be for 9th and 10th grade students and to merge into the ADAPT club for 11th and 12th grade students, with a mentoring relationship established between the two programs.

• A professional development workshop for teachers was held on November 14, 2008 in the Little Rock School District. The workshop consisted of implementing student -based components of the Initiative such as ADAPT, using visual history technology in the classroom, and relating visual history to content standards. There were 27 teachers in attendance at the workshop. The workshop included Initiative material as well as a guest speaker on creating your own Oral Histories from the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. A highlight of the workshop included guest speaker Erica Ivy speaking on how she had already incorporated the Initiative into her class.

• We are committed to providing outreach activities that meet the needs of local educators. Using feedback provided by teachers participating in our Testimony to Tolerance workshop, we established a Testimony to Tolerance Initiative Advisory Council. The goal of the Council is to provide guidance to the Testimony to Tolerance Initiative staff in developing future community outreach activities within the Little Rock School District and surrounding school districts. The Advisory Council comprises thirteen (13) teachers representing eleven middle and high schools in the Little Rock School District. The council met once per semester and was available by email to advise and assist with questions and programming throughout the course of the Initiative. The Advisory Council allows us the opportunity for a grassroots, coordinated effort that can take root and grow in future years.

• The Educational Site Coordinator held a lunch meeting on September 25, 2008 with Brenda Allen, principal, and Carolyn Jennings, teacher, from JA Fair Systems Magnet High School in Little Rock to discuss the implementation of an ADAPT club at their school. Approval was gained to start this club with Ms. Jennings as the club sponsor.

• On October 31, 2008 a mini-workshop was presented to teachers at the Arkansas Department of Education Distance Learning Center in Maumelle, Arkansas. This workshop was initiated by contact with Sheree Crites, a teacher for the Arkansas Department of Education. Initiative materials and sample lessons which coordinated with state standards were presented. Teachers with ADE Distance Learning serve over 93 schools with a student count of 2,500. Seven teachers attended the workshop.

• As part of our community outreach efforts, the Educational Site Coordinator made contact with Congregation House of Israel in Hot Springs, Arkansas regarding a presentation to their congregation. On November 3, 2008 the coordinator was invited to present an overview of the Initiative to a group of 17 women who were working to get Holocaust-related material into the Hot Springs schools. Also in attendance was John Wells, director of the Garland County Library, who was working with this group. The Educational Site Coordinator also explained how Hot Springs library patrons could check out testimonies through the inter library loan program. As a result of this presentation, this group of women went on to hold a city-wide essay contest and brought traveling exhibits from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to the Garland County Library. It was also through this event that contact was established with Arkansas School for Math Science and the Arts in Hot Springs who now have their own ADAPT club.

• An Art and Writing contest was kicked off in local school districts on December 19, 2008. Students had until February to submit entries based on the prompt provided. Eight entries were received for this contest and cash prizes were given to student winners. As a result of this contest and through discussion with the Testimony to Tolerance Advisory Council, it was decided that the contest should be launched earlier in the year and given more time to run.

• On January 16, 2009 the Educational Site Coordinator filled in for the educator for Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Library Media Specialist (LMS) conference and used the presentation to promote the Initiative with Library Media Specialists from Pulaski County Schools. Many people expressed interest and the LMS form Oak Grove High School arranged a meeting with her principal. Thirty Library Media Specialists were in attendance from Pulaski County Special School District. The school district reaches nearly 18,000 students.

• On March 19, 2009 during the CALS Third Thursday program, the documentary "One Human Spirit" was shown at the Main library. Third Thursday is a brown bag lunch program that occurs every month on the third Thursday of the month. CALS patrons and staff come together to hear presentations on a different subject each month. Ten people attended this session and a discussion led by the Educational Site Coordinator of lessons learned from the survivors followed.

• In the first quarter of 2009, the Educational Site Coordinator organized a speaker series titled "Diversity and Tolerance" in partnership with the Educator for the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. JaJuan Johnson spoke on January 20 at the first event, about using oral history to teach tolerance. Grif Stockley spoke on February 3 about his new book "Ruled by Race' about race relations in Arkansas and the South. Carla McClafferty did a presentation on March 3 on her recently published book "In Defiance of Hitler, the Secret Mission of Varian Fry". Attendance at the series was 3, 8, and 20 respectively and it was held at a branch library.

• CALS and the Testimony to Tolerance Initiative partnered with Jewish Federation of Arkansas on the Yom HaShoah Holocaust Memorial community program held at Temple B’nai Israel on Monday, April 20, 2009. The film "The Last Days" was shown followed by a memorial and candle-lighting service. A reception followed. Community leaders representing different and diverse areas of the community participated, including Holocaust survivors, teachers participating in the Initiative, and representatives from all three of the Initiative’s funders. There were approximately 200 people in attendance at this standing-room only event. Members of the Board of the Jewish Federation of Arkansas stated that this was the most powerful Yom HaShoah event they had attended.

• In an effort to reach out to individual schools within the Pulaski County Special School District, a student workshop, conducted by the Educational Site Coordinator, was presented using the Pyramid of Hate activity which was followed with small group discussion with students from North Pulaski High School. The workshop took place on May 14, 2009. Students participated in Pyramid activity as well as small group discussion and presentation regarding diversity and tolerance problems in their school and what they can do to change it. Forty students participated in two different workshops. Similar workshops were also held at Robinson High School where 3 groups of 25 students each attended on May 18, 2009.

• The Tri-District library media specialist conference met on September 17, 2009. The Educational Site Coordinator presented the Initiative with a brief introduction to visual history followed by a presentation of product pack materials. Eighteen library media specialists were then given the opportunity to take product packs back to their schools, making them available through their teacher resource centers to all teachers in Little Rock, Pulaski County and North Little Rock school districts.

• JA Fair High School established an ADAPT (Advocating Diversity and Promoting Tolerance) Club during the 2009/2010 school year with teacher Carolyn Jennings at the helm. On September 30, 2009 the educational site coordinator met before school, bringing donuts, with the fifteen charter members of the club to set goals for the coming year. Students also engaged in an ice breaker activity followed by the Pyramid of Hate activity. They also planned their first activity of the school year which consisted of a field trip to the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

• In an effort to reach out to the greater Central Arkansas area, the Educational Site Coordinator made contact with the Arkansas School for Math, Science and the Arts where an ADAPT club was established under the leadership of teacher Jennifer Lefebvre. The ADAPT club kickoff was held with pizza for students. Students met in Ms. Lefebvre's classroom and attendees went over the purpose and mission of an ADAPT club. Students also made a plan for two major projects for the coming year including a diversity day and a "live in a different culture for a day" activity. This club also participated in the Butterfly project through the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

From last year's ADAPT club VP. Lexi Acello, now a senior, running for president of the club "The chapter of the ADAPT club at ASMSA is one of the most influential and meaningful clubs at our school. The students here already live in a very diverse environment, and learning about the different languages, cultures, and religions of our peers really changes the way we view different ways of life. With the knowledge of cultures often comes acceptance and the more we learn about different cultures, the easier it is for us to see that we're not so different in the end. In the future, I hope every member of ADAPT, including myself, continues to promote diversity and tolerance, and focuses on changing the world's stereotypes one person at a time."

• Having made contact with Oak Grove High School librarian Helen Plummer at the previous conference for Library Media Specialists in Pulaski County, the Educational Site Coordinator was invited to present a mini workshop to the Oak Grove faculty at their regular after school faculty meeting on October 15, 2009. Five product packs were left for use in the school, which serves approximately 417 students. Contact has continued with Oak Grove, including an invitation for the site coordinator to speak on a book of choice at their 25 books celebration. Educational Site Coordinator Amanda Ferguson gave a talk on the book "Madonna’s of Leningrad" at the celebration which took place on May 14, 2010 and was attended by approximately 50 students.

"The Testimony to Tolerance Initiative has enhanced our educational setting at Oak Grove High School. Mrs. Ferguson has presented to our entire faculty at a faculty meeting and has been a guest speaker at our 25 Book Campaign celebration. We have used Carla McClafferty's book in our book club and she has also attended our 25 Book Celebration as author of the month. I believe that this initiative has raised our students awareness of tolerance and diversity which is very helpful in a high school setting."

Joy Plants
Principal
Oak Grove High School

• On October 19, 20009 a mini workshop was presented to twelve social studies coordinators from middle and high schools throughout the Little Rock School District at their District Offices. Each participant received a product pack of lessons and materials to help them facilitate the implementation of the Initiative in their classrooms.

• A joint workshop between the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies and the Testimony to Tolerance Initiative was offered as part of the Arkansas Education Association conference on November 6, 2009. The workshop was called "Using Technology to Teach Diversity and Tolerance" and focused on the Institute’s DVD testimonies, the Institute’s online resources from its website and the CALS/Butler Center’s website. The first part of the day included power point and visual and oral history clips, and the afternoon consisted of hands-on activities, guided online searching of the websites, and viewing one of the product pack documentaries. All teachers left with product packs. Lunch was also provided for attendees of this workshop. This workshop was attended by 44 teachers and library media specialists from schools throughout the state of Arkansas and took place on November 6, 2009. VERY positive feedback on evaluation forms included "Best PD ever" and "I am inspired to share the tolerance information with colleagues and students".

• The ADAPT club at JA Fair High School held a Mix-it-Up at lunch day on November 10, 2009. Students were handed a colored piece of paper corresponding with streamers at each table. The colors designated where they sat and students were encouraged to get to know people at their school they had never met or spoken with in the past. JA Fair High School serves 1169 students.

• In November of 2009, the Educational Site Coordinator was contacted by Dr. Lillian Wichinsky, a social work professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock regarding Dr. Jon Miller's oppression and diversity elective course. The coordinator was asked to do a presentation relating the Holocaust to tolerance and diversity for one 3 hour class period. The presentation took place on November 23, 2009. This presentation was for Masters level students who participated enthusiastically in the discussion. The film "One Human Spirit" was presented and was followed by a facilitated discussion. The coordinator also presented the Pyramid of Hate activity and facilitated a discussion as well. Students were able to take material presented and relate it to concepts they had already studied, as well as other oppressed groups they had studied throughout the year. There were 22 Masters Level students and two professors in attendance at this program.

• From November of 2009 through February of 2010, the Initiative once again ran the Art and Writing contest, partnering with the Racial and Cultural Diversity Commission of the City of Little Rock (RCDC). Through our partnership with RCDC, we were able to raise awareness of the contest and had 80 participants, a tenfold increase of our previous contest. Winners were awarded in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place categories in both Middle and High School divisions. The prompt for this contest was:"How tolerant is your school and community? How can you be an agent of change to bring tolerance to your school and community?"

Awards presentation ay Horace Mann Middle School

"Having engaged my students in the "Testimony to Tolerance" web site provided several extension activities for my class during the 2009-2010 school year. I set up a Wiki spaces class and required students to read several of the testimonies and then report back to the discussion group on some aspect of the biography (biographies) which they found most intriguing. There was very mature and lively discussions that followed. Many students wrote at length commenting not only on the biographies they read, but also on the comments of fellow classmates. When the call for essays went out, it seemed to be a natural for over half of my classes to participate in the "Testimony to Tolerance Essay Writing Contest." I am pleased to say that students from my school and from my class won first, second, and third place in the middle school division. I was so pleased that I plan to continue incorporating the Initiative in my lessons this school year.

Rugenal Anderson, English teacher
Horace Mann Arts and Science Magnet
Middle School

•On April 8, 2010 a "Gathering of the (book) Groups" was held at the Central Arkansas Library System as a kickoff to the Literary Festival. All Central Arkansas Library Systems book groups were given a list of books centered around the events of World War II. We chose "The Madonna’s of Leningrad" as the subject of the presentation for this program. After introducing the Initiative and the theme of remembrance from the testimonies, comparisons were drawn to the theme of remembrance and memory in the book and using our memories to better our lives. This gathering of the groups was attended by 68 community members. Also during the Literary Festival on April 9, 2010 Christian Lander, author of "Stuff White People Like" was escorted to McClellan High School where he spoke to students in AP English with Erica Ivy as the teacher. He spoke about his book and about being tolerant, finding humor in who we are, and respecting the likes and dislikes of others who may be different than us. Twenty students were in the class Mr. Lander spoke to.

• On April 12, 2010 we once again cosponsored and planned the Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance day with a focus on the Arkansas Connection. Choosing three testimonies from the Little Rock Visual History Collection, we chose poignant clips and invited those survivors to participate in person. Each one was introduced by family and friends and asked to light candles of remembrance following a viewing of clips from their testimony. Also in attendance were representatives from L'Oreal USA, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, as well as Bobby Roberts, director of CALS. This event was attended by 150 people.

• The Testimony to Tolerance Initiative once again partnered with the Racial and Cultural Diversity Commission of the City of Little Rock to present a "Summer Tolerance Institute for Teens" on July 19, 2010. A one-day program for teens was held to promote tolerance and understanding among youth. Three, one-hour workshops were held for 20 students from all three local school districts as well as students from the e-Stem charter school. The first workshop consisted of the Pyramid of Hate activity. This was followed by students having the opportunity to write their own personal anti-bias creed. After lunch, the final workshop brought students together with a young woman of Muslim faith who gave an overview of her beliefs aimed at getting rid of stereotypes about Muslims, and then opened the floor for a 30-minute question and answer session about Muslim faith and practices. Students in attendance were presented certificates of participation in the end.

In his anti bias creed, Grant DePoyster, from e-Stem charter school, wrote: "In a world full of discrimination and hate, a few warriors stand against aggression…I strive to be one of these great people…People standing together isn’t a want, it’s a need! That, without a doubt, is my creed"

•On August 16, 2010 a half-day workshop was held for secondary social studies teachers in the Pulaski County Special School District. The Initiative was presented along with several sample activities. The Echoes and Reflections curriculum, a comprehensive multimedia curriculum developed by the Anti-Defamation League, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute, and Yad Vashem, was also presented at this time. All teachers received a copy of the Echoes and Reflections curriculum, the testimony to tolerance handouts CD and clip DVD and a copy of the One Human Spirit video. There were 35 educators in attendance representing 14 schools throughout Pulaski County.

Testimony to Tolerance

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