FAU’s Arthur and Emalie Gutterman Family Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education Honors Educators

Image: Gutterman Family Outstanding Holocaust Educator Award recipients from 2022

The Arthur and Emalie Gutterman Family Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education (CHHRE) at Florida Atlantic University recently announced the Gutterman Family Outstanding Holocaust Educator Awards for 2023. The educators will be recognized on Monday, Nov. 6 at the 13^th annual Award Dinner Honoring Outstanding Holocaust Educators.

This year’s recipient for Broward County Public Schools is Candace Blake of Coral Springs High School; the School District of Palm Beach County’s awardee is Jackelyn Powali of H.L. Johnson Elementary School; and St. Lucie Public Schools has selected Robert Grundstrom of Treasure Coast High School.

The award recognizes educators who have demonstrated a positive impact on their respective schools and the wider community in the field of Holocaust, genocide and human rights education. It honors individuals who, by their example and through teaching about these difficult subjects, strengthen South Florida students’ world citizenship and capacity to uphold the dignity of all persons.

Through the generosity of the Arthur Gutterman family, the award enables recipients to participate in an educator field study at Holocaust sites in Poland and Israel, which will take place this summer. This years’ recipients will travel with educator award winners from 2020 and 2021 who were unable to go due to travel restrictions and health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 “Each year, for the past 12 years, we have celebrated the accomplishments of outstanding teachers who go above and beyond the requirements of the Holocaust education mandate and are truly making a difference in the lives of their students, in their schools and in the world,” said Linda Medvin, director of the CHHRE. “Many things have changed but we know that education is the best hope against hatred and the Arthur and Emalie Gutterman Family Center is committed to continue our mission to keep the hope alive.”

The Arthur and Emalie Gutterman Family Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote respect for all people through the study of Holocaust, genocide and human rights, and is an integral unit of FAU’s Peace, Justice and Human Rights Initiative. The Center relies exclusively on private donations to provide professional learning programs and classroom resources for teachers and students, and community programs to support the mandated instruction of the Holocaust required by Florida law.

Programs include teacher workshops, Holocaust Summer Institute, and an annual trip to the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., as well as programming open to the community. The CHHRE serves K-12 educators in public, private, charter, parochial and Jewish Day Schools throughout Broward, Palm Beach, St. Lucie, Martin, Indian River, Glades and Okeechobee counties. For more information about the Gutterman Center, visit www.fau.edu/artsandletters/pjhr/chhre/ or contact Linda Medvin at 561-297-2929 or lmedvin@fau.edu .

For information about the Annual Gutterman Family Outstanding Holocaust Educator Awards dinner, contact Ellen Sax at 561 297-0849 or esax@fau.edu