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Poughkeepsie Day School Receives Prestigious Grant
Poughkeepsie Day School has been awarded a "Facing History and Ourselves In-Depth School Program Grant" for the 2008-2009 academic year. The Town of Poughkeepsie independent school was one of only 20 schools in the country selected to participate in the program through this national competition.
The grant proposal was submitted by the school's history department chair, Bernadette Condesso, and English department chair Trace Schillinger. The grant provides for four faculty members to attend a Facing History and Ourselves seminar at no cost, as well as to receive a set of texts and support (in-house and online) from the organization to create a new course, called "Holocaust and Human Behavior," which will be offered in the spring 2009 semester to 8th- 12th grade students at the school. In addition to supporting the new course, Ms. Schillinger says that the grant will help "to create a model for an ongoing course on the Holocaust for 8th through 10th grade students." Ms. Condesso says that their goal is "to have students learn about the Holocaust through the literature and art created during and after it. We are also planning for students to interview and film local area Holocaust survivors and create a Web-based publication of their study and the interviews."
This past summer Ms. Condesso and fellow high school history teacher Karen Nichols, Ph.D. participated in the week-long Facing History and Ourselves seminar in New York City, which provided important historical content and specific teaching methodology. Ms. Schillinger and middle school history teacher Kerry Wholey will participate in the seminar during the fall semester.
Facing History and Ourselves delivers classroom strategies, resources and lessons that "inspire young people to take responsibility for their world." Since its founding in 1976, it has grown from a single office in Brookline, MA to an international organization with ten regional offices and educational partnerships in Israel, Northern Ireland, Rwanda and South African, Engaging more than 1.8 million students annually through its network of 25,000 educators around the world, the organization reaches the public and the broader educational market through community events and extensive online resources. For more information on the organization, visit: www.facinghistory.org
Poughkeepsie Day School has been developing educated citizens with a passion for learning and living since 1934. It seeks to promote curious and independent learners: critical thinkers who know how to ask questions and solve problems. Respect, responsibility and collaboration are among the hallmarks of the PDS school community. Typically, each year one-hundred per cent of the school's seniors who apply to college are admitted.
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