Students from 33 Area Schools Attend Annual Human Rights Institute Featuring Award Winning Actor

The Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center hosted their 9th Annual Human Rights Institute for Middle School Student Leaders on November 19th – 21st at Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester in Rye, New York.

Students and teachers from 33 public and private middle schools in the Hudson Valley attended. HHREC staff and area middle school teachers facilitated a breakout session on the themes of “Human rights” and What it means to respect human dignity and How to Be an Upstander, and students met within groups to develop activities to implement in their schools. Students from Manhattanville University helped to facilitate the breakout sessions.

The program began with a keynote presentation by Sheila Arnold, CEO and Lead Performer of History’s Alive!, who portrayed an enslaved maidservant struggling with the way slave owners were treating her daughter in the days leading up to the American revolution. Ms. Arnold has also performed as a Regional Storyteller at Colonial Williamsburg, the Valley Forge Teacher Institute, and at conferences across the U.S.

This program was developed to further the mission of the HHREC by laying the foundation to encourage students to become “upstanders rather than bystanders.” Participating schools included: Albert Leonard (New Rochelle); Anne Dorner MS (Ossining); Ardsley MS; Bell Middle School (Chappaqua), Benjamin Turner (Mount Vernon); Blind Brook MS; Briarcliff MS; Cross Hill Academy (Yonkers); Denzel Washington School of the Arts (Mount Vernon); Dobbs Ferry MS; Eastchester MS; Fieldstone MS (North Rockland); French American School; George Fischer MS (Carmel); German International School (White Plains); Henry H. Wells (Brewster); Highlands MS (White Plains); Hommocks MS (Mamaroneck); Isaac E. Young MS (New Rochelle); Newburgh (Heritage MS, Meadow Hill Gem, South MS and Temple Academy); North Salem MS; PEARLS MS (Yonkers); Pleasantville MS; Port Chester MS; Sacred Heart (Greenwich); Seven Bridges MS (Chappaqua); Sleepy Hollow MS (Sleepy Hollow); Somers MS; and St. Joseph’s School (Bronxville).

“We are very pleased to continue offering this program to area middle schools this year.” said Steve Goldberg, HHREC Director of Education. “We really appreciate the support from teachers to help us connect with their students, as we work together to help them learn about these important contemporary issues.”

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