March 30, 2005
Purdue's Ackerman Center to sponsor Holocaust student program
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – More than 300 local elementary students will participate in a student program coordinated by Purdue's James F. Ackerman Center for Democratic Citizenship as part of the 24th annual Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Conference.
"The student program was developed to provide area students and teachers with age-appropriate educational experiences about the Holocaust," said Phillip J. VanFossen, director of the Ackerman Center and associate professor in curriculum and instruction. "Holocaust education is a clear case of learning from history in order to avoid repeating mistakes of the past. An important step in preventing future occurrences of such atrocities is for current generations to learn the lessons of the Holocaust."
The 2005 program will take place on April 13 at 10 a.m. at West Lafayette's Happy Hollow Elementary School and at noon at Lafayette's Amelia Earhart Elementary.
Children's book author Ruth VanDerZee will talk about her book "Erika's Story," which is about a survivor who recalls the difficult decisions her parents had to make and how those decisions affected her life. A former middle school teacher, VanDerZee has written a number of other children's books.
"Even though the Holocaust is 'ancient history' to these sixth-graders, they are developing an understanding of the suffering and an empathy for the victims of this terrible human tragedy," said Janet Tipton, Happy Hollow Elementary School teacher. "Through literature, poetry and art, the students' emotional ties to Holocaust victims is deepening and having a profound impact on their lives."
VanFossen said this is the seventh consecutive year that the Ackerman Center has coordinated a student program as part of the Holocaust Remembrance Conference. He said that Holocaust education is part of the center's overall mission of education for citizenship.
The James F. Ackerman Center for Democratic Citizenship, housed in Purdue's College of Education, was created in 1994 with a $2 million gift from James Ackerman, an Indianapolis cable television executive, and his wife, Lois.
The center also sponsors an annual Summer Institute on Citizenship Education for teachers, various workshops and civic education projects for teachers and students, and serves as a statewide resource center for citizenship education materials.
Writer: Maggie Morris, (765) 494-2432, maggiemorris@purdue.edu
Sources: Phillip J. VanFossen, (765) 494-2367, vanfoss@purdue.edu
Janet Tipton, Happy Hollow School, (765) 746-0500
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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