Pius X Teachers to Share Holocaust Education Knowledge at National Conference
Pius X teachers Tom Seib and Lauren Funk will present a Holocaust Education workshop at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) annual convention, November 19-22, 2015, in Minneapolis, Minn.
Seib and Funk will be joined by former Pius X teachers, Jane Connealy and Katie Elsener, to share how Holocaust education and efforts to improve student writing abilities have been integrated into the curriculum. During “Transformative Stories from Pius X High School; How Holocaust Education Changed a School,” attendees will learn how Pius X teachers created a culture that inspires educators to use the Holocaust and other social justice teachings to reach students, improve literacy, and touch the community at large.
“The catalyst for change at Pius X was a combination of the implementation of a school-wide goal of improving writing across the curriculum which was implemented in 2005-06, and the large number of Pius X teachers who participated in the Summer Holocaust Seminar taught by Jane, Katie and me,” explains Seib, who serves as Pius’ Social Studies Department Chair.
Holocaust education became more focused after Connealy, Elsener, and Seib attended the summer seminar on Holocaust education at The Memorial Library in New York in 2007 and 2008. Then in 2010 the trio returned to New York to begin training to conduct satellite seminars in Nebraska. They conducted the summer program in 2011, 2012, and 2013 which attracted more than 60 teachers from all over the Midwest.
“The resources, ideas, curricular innovations, and shared knowledge that came from these seminars gave impetus to a wide variety of teaching and learning innovations within the building,” Seib adds.
In their convention presentation, the Pius X contingent will examine how Pius X’s school culture and private classroom practices evolved, how teachers’ use of literature and writing across disciplines changed, and how educators became more confident in their teaching, fostering a joy in sharing ideas with colleagues and the larger community.
“The work that Katie, Jane, and Tom have done to educate students and teachers on this subject matter is so important,” comments Funk, a 2007 Pius X graduate who now teaches English I and AP Literature at Pius X. “I was privileged to have all three of them as my own teachers. They shaped who I was as a student and my own pedagogy as a teacher. I feel it is crucial to carry on their work in my own classroom and I am blessed to have them as mentors and collaborators.”
Pius X High School earned recognition as a 2014 School of Excellence by the Catholic Education Honor Roll, ranking it amongst the top five percent of Catholic high schools in the country. Now in its 60th year, Pius X has grown to more than 1,225 students in grades 9-12, and continues to be guided by Pope St. Pius X’s motto, “Restore all things in Christ”. As the central Catholic high school in Lincoln, Pius X’s mission is to enrich the mind, heart and soul of each student through a Christ-centered, Catholic environment that provides academic excellence and preparation to achieve a meaningful, faith-filled life.
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