BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Advisory From Palm Beach County School District) — For Olympic Heights High School teacher Michael Klein, the Holocaust is not just a subject he teaches in the classroom. It’s an integral part of his family’s history.
Klein’s parents both survived the Holocaust, and those experiences helped shape him as a person and teacher. That’s why Klein was especially honored when he found out that he is one of three winners of the 2014 Gutterman Family Holocaust Educator Award, given by the Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education at Florida Atlantic University.
“That is my legacy,” Klein said of winning the award. “This honor validates their struggle and their triumph over an unimaginable and indescribable evil.”
Klein has taught at Olympic Heights High School since 2003. In addition to teaching about the Holocaust, he also teaches classes in psychology and ethics. He was nominated for the honor by Olympic Heights High Principal Dave Clark, and will be honored at a ceremony in February.
As part of his award, Klein will receive an all-expenses-paid trip in July to tour Holocaust sites in Europe. The tour ends at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Museum, where award recipients will also participate in an international summer institute for educators.
He plans to take the lessons he learns during his journey this summer and bring them back to his students in the next school year.
“By the nature of their personalities and essential qualities of the profession, teachers are lifelong learners and students as well,” Klein said. “My expectation is that sharing the experiences I will come back with will positively serve to enhance my classroom curricula and in so doing, profoundly enrich the lives of my students.”
“That is my legacy,” Klein said of winning the award. “This honor validates their struggle and their triumph over an unimaginable and indescribable evil.”
Klein has taught at Olympic Heights High School since 2003. In addition to teaching about the Holocaust, he also teaches classes in psychology and ethics. He was nominated for the honor by Olympic Heights High Principal Dave Clark, and will be honored at a ceremony in February.
As part of his award, Klein will receive an all-expenses-paid trip in July to tour Holocaust sites in Europe. The tour ends at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Museum, where award recipients will also participate in an international summer institute for educators.
He plans to take the lessons he learns during his journey this summer and bring them back to his students in the next school year.
“By the nature of their personalities and essential qualities of the profession, teachers are lifelong learners and students as well,” Klein said. “My expectation is that sharing the experiences I will come back with will positively serve to enhance my classroom curricula and in so doing, profoundly enrich the lives of my students.”
