Facing History and Ourselves Announces Grant from the Jack and Harriet Rosenfeld Foundation

Facing History and Ourselves has received a grant from the Jack and Harriet Rosenfeld Foundation that will allow the organization to expand its Jewish Education Program and its network of trained educators in Florida's Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The $250,000 grant, established by the foundation's trustees, Lynn W. Fromberg and Dr. Jay Kaufman, will increase Facing History's capacity to offer intensive professional development services and fund scholarships for six educators from Jewish day schools or congregational schools in these counties to attend Facing History's annual teacher-training seminar.

"We are deeply honored to receive this grant from the Jack and Harriet Rosenfeld Foundation," said Jan Darsa, Director of the Jewish Education Program at Facing History. "It means expanded opportunity for Jewish educators and ultimately it means enriching the lives of their students."

Since its inception in 1976, Facing History has worked with teachers in public, private, and religious school settings. Facing History's Jewish Education Program brings to a Jewish educational setting the organization's unique educational model for connecting the teaching of history and the humanities to moral choices today. The program offers professional development for teachers and uses specialized classroom materials, including Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior, Facing History's core resource book, and The Jews of Poland, which provides an in depth study of Jewish life in Europe before World War II. Facing History's Jewish Text Project enables Facing History teachers to integrate the study of select Jewish texts into their teaching. To date, more than 1000 Jewish education professionals throughout the country have attended workshops and seminars offered by Facing History's Jewish Education Program.

"My aunt would be excited and gratified by the gift to Facing History," said Dr. Jay Kaufman, Trustee of the Jack and Harriet Rosenfeld Foundation and the nephew and godson of Mrs. Rosenfeld. "She had strong feelings about the Jewish religion and culture, and would have been proud to have her name associated with a program that educates teachers and students about those things she loved."

The Jack and Harriet Rosenfeld Foundation was established to support Jewish education, primarily in Florida's Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, and the State of Israel.

"This opportunity brings the vision and passion of Jay and Susan Kaufman and the Rosenfeld Foundation trustees together with a powerful and very special educational opportunity for teachers and students," said Margot Stern Strom, Facing History's president and executive director. "We could not be more proud and hopeful about this investment in education."