THE HOLOCAUST EDUCATION
AND PREJUDICE REDUCTION PROGRAM

OVERVIEW

The Holocaust Education and Prejudice Reduction Program (HEPRP) was created in 1988 by business and community leaders Marvin and Murray Lender and Professor Geoffrey Hartman, Sterling Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature at Yale University.

The Holocaust Educational Prejudice Reduction Program (HEPRP) is a professional development program and teacher resource center for teachers in the Greater New Haven area. The mission of the program is to promote awareness in the public, private and parochial school systems about the Holocaust and cases of modern-day prejudice and genocide. This program provides local educators with the tools and resources to communicate these critical lessons of the past and the present.

Advisory Groups

HEPRP is governed by its Advisory Council that consists of founders, area educators and professional leaders who provide guidance to the staff and educators.

The Educators’ Advisory Group consists of Lead Teachers, primarily graduates of the FHAO Summer Seminar series, who remain engaged with the program through ongoing education. They suggest and advise prospective programs and disseminate information to teachers and administrators in their districts.

Benefits

• Participating teachers who enroll in the FHAO Summer seminar are eligible to receive Continuing Education Credits (CEUs) through the Area Cooperative Educational Services of Connecticut.
• HEPRP maintains ongoing personal contact with Holocaust educators. Periodic letters and e-mails keep teachers up-to-date on upcoming seminars and programs.
• Teachers in need of resources or teaching strategies rely on the program staff for prompt answers to their questions. They have access to the wide array of print and audio-visual resources made available in the Department of Jewish Education Library located at the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven.
• Teachers also have access to the video testimonies of survivors and other related audio-visual materials at the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies housed at Yale University.

Recruitment

Teachers are recruited through networking opportunities with active and past educators, individuals who express an interest in the program, and through personal conversations with HEPRP staff. In addition, the HEPRP staff works closely with school superintendents, curriculum department heads and administrators to encourage each school’s participation in HEPRP programs.

Funding

HEPRP is funded by an endowment fund at the Jewish Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven.