Neither Yesterdays Nor Tomorrows

by George J Elbaum

Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory (SHCP) is an innovative Catholic high school with enrollment of 1300 students and a dynamic blend of liberal arts, scientific inquiry, and 21st-century pedagogy which develops resourceful, independent thinkers.   The school prides itself on its commitment to its educational philosophy, Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve, and it offers an array of courses, from college preparatory through honors and advanced placement curriculum.  SHCP’s commitment to rigorous academics and social justice helps mold students into hardworking, thoughtful and altruistic adults.

Incoming students are assigned a school counselor with whom they will continue to consult until graduation.  In junior year, students are also assigned a college advisor who will guide them through the college research, application and financial aid process.  SHCP’s Counseling and Advising Program provides parents and students the academic guidance they need to navigate a challenging college prep curriculum commensurate with the individual student’s talents and aspirations, making the transition from SHCP to college as seamless as possible.

Because SHCP lies in the heart of San Francisco’s technology center and near Silicon Valley, plus it has an active network of alumni, parents and professional partners, it established the Student Launch Initiative (SLI) as the area’s preeminent high school entrepreneurship program.  This program teaches students to identify problems and design solutions that positively impact the lives of their peers, their families, and their community.  Through SLI’s workshops and speakers’ series, industry innovators and entrepreneurs introduce students to entrepreneurial concepts including ideation, project development and business model development.  SLI goes beyond the classroom to provide hands-on experience, practical learning, direct mentorship, and seed funding to help launch student projects.

Today was my 3^rd visit to SHCP since 2017, and once again the students asked some very perceptive questions during the Q&A, including two that have never been asked of me in the 240 talks I’ve given till now.  I’m always pleased when that happens, as it shows me that the students are thinking and it makes me think.  Attending my talk were four groups of students: 12^th grade World Religions taught by Ish Ruiz, who organized this talk as he also organized the previous two; 12^th grade Living & Dying taught by Kathy Lorentz; 9^th grade Scripture taught by Rachel Bundang, and 9^th grade World History taught by Jeff & Chris Juelsgaard.  Attending the talk were Ish Ruiz, Kathy Lorentz, Chris Juelsgaard, and SHCP President Melinda Lawlor Skrade, who made me aware of a fascinating study of the effects of the Holocaust on the now-grown children and grandchildren of the survivors.  Arrangements for the talk were made by Penny Savryn, JFCS Holocaust Center’s Program Coordinator.

by George J Elbaum

The Holocaust Center of Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS) together with Facing History and Ourselves jointly organized a professional development workshop for educators in the greater San Francisco area on the topic of Music in the Holocaust, and specifically on the Violins of Hope Project.

The Violins of Hope is a collection of 16 instruments played by Jewish musicians during The Holocaust. They were collected and lovingly restored by an Israeli violin maker, Amnon Weinstein, who spent more than two decades painstakingly amassing this tragic collection which he calls “Violins of Hope” because they survived concentration camps, pogroms and many long journeys to tell remarkable stories of injustice, suffering, resilience and survival.  The Violins of Hope Project includes a national concert tour of these instruments and a documentary movie narrated by Academy Award-winner Adrien Brody, and it symbolizes the power of music.  It is thus a worthy topic of a workshop for Holocaust educators.

The event was held at the Galileo Academy and organized by Morgan Blum Schneider, Director of the JFCS Holocaust Center, and Elaine Guarnieri-Nunn, Executive Director, San Francisco Bay Area, Facing History and Ourselves, plus Facing History staff Lindsay Gutierrez,  Nga Mai, and Jared Kishidawa, Office Manager & Program Coordinator, who brought in trays of sweets for snacking which I much appreciated :-).  My participation was arranged by Penny Sevryn, Program Coordinator of JFCS Holocaust Center.

introduction by Morgan Blum Schneider

by George J Elbaum

Charles Wright Academy (CWA) was one of the 2 Seattle area schools where I spoke for the very first time in October 2010, and today it was the 10th consecutive year that I spoke at their annual Global Summit.  This year the Summit consisted of 29 high school students and 6 teachers visiting from Colombia, France and Poland, plus students from CWA’s 8^th grade class.

The Global Summit is a 10-day program designed to promote peace and social justice by exposing the visiting students to and developing their understanding of the concepts of universal human rights, justice, fair trade and sustainable life styles, and by demonstrating how the choices that each of us makes every day can impact the world. The core of the Summit is a series of speakers whose personal experiences reflect directly on these subjects, and their presentations are followed by group discussions on these very concepts.

This year’s Global Summit was again organized and managed by Ann Vogel, CWA’s Director of International Programs.  She also was one of six Global Ambassadors for the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and her son and daughter both graduated from CWA.  Ann was assisted by visiting teachers Marina Larrahondo Rico and Robby Pena Nelson from Colombia; Marie Bourgeon and Olivier Tabary from France; Magda Wnuczek and Grzegorz Martyniuk from Poland; and CWA teachers Dan Wicklund, Christina Bertucchi, Rafe Wadleigh, David Bishop, Susan Sparrow, and Jacquie Silberman (who, together with her husband Dan, provided personal “shuttle service”😊 from/to the airport and conversation that was both enjoyable and meaningful).  As usual, the visiting delegations were hosted by CWA teachers and students.

Due to an undetected malfunction of Ann Vogel’s camera, we will be gathering photos from various attendees to supplement the few available at this posting.

by George J Elbaum

The MIT Club of Wisconsin is a network of 670 alumni with the mission to enhance the value of the MIT degree, build community, and celebrate our shared experience. The Club is led by an active board headed by President Christie Lin, PhD (MIT Course 22, ’11, ‘12), and its activities serve MIT alumni, current students, and friends of the Club by providing behind-the-scenes industry tours, lectures on the latest research, and unique social events.  The Club also serves as a resource for the local K-12 schools by providing a platform in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics).

Once a year, the Club responds to the annual EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) AirVenture at Oshkosh, a giant, week-long gathering of pilots and airplanes and aviation enthusiasts and spectators from around the world for spectacular demonstrations of aerial acrobatics, instructional lectures on aircraft home-building and maintenance, commercial exhibits, plus pavilions of aircraft manufacturers, home-built kits, aircraft parts, plus anything and everything connected with aviation.  This year’s AirVenture 2019 welcomed a record 642,000 enthusiasts, 10,000+ aircraft and pilots, including 1057 homebuilts, 939 vintage airplanes, 400 warbirds, 105 seaplanes, and 62 aerobatic aircraft.  A total of 1500 forums, workshops and presentations were held for the do-it-yourself community and attended by 75,000 people.  My son Jordan joined me at AirVenture, the first time that either of us attended it, and both of us were very impressed with its huge scale and smooth operation.

For AirVenture 2019 the Club hosted a brunch, aviation speakers, and hands-on science and engineering activities, and I was invited to speak at the brunch.  The Club’s invitation to members of the MIT Alumni Association described me as an “aviation junkie” (which, after a moment of reflection, I took as a compliment), so I shortened my presentation of my Holocaust childhood and added my adventures & misadventures in aviation, from surviving a near-collision, crashing an airplane, and years of hang gliding including a helicopter rescue after crashing.  I especially enjoyed the interaction with the audience during the talk and afterwards.

The event was organized by Christie Lin, board member Mel Lucarelli, MD (MIT ‘90), with photography by Cynthia Lin (MIT ‘07, ‘15).  As loyal alumni, Christie, Mel and Cynthia used the event very effectively to promote the Club, enroll 5 new members and conduct a raffle – no opportunity goes wasted 😊.

MIT Club of Wisconsin at AirVenture 2019

starting the talk

by George J Elbaum

Polish Friends of the Forum is an informal group of individuals who understand the importance of Polish/Jewish dialogue and who identify with the mission of Forum for Dialogue and support its programs, enhancing their own understanding and knowledge.  Of the 19 attendees at the June 6 event, 7 had just returned from a trip to Israel as part of the Polish/Israeli Leadership Initiative. This program is a platform for cooperation and exchange of ideas for a community of public opinion leaders from Poland and Israel, meeting each year alternatively in Poland and Israel. During each reunion this international group participates in an intense program addressing common issues and concerns related to democracy and civil society.

I was asked by the Forum’s President, Andrzej Folwarczny, to give my presentation to this group at the June 6 meeting, and I did so with only a small difference in that the audience was not teenagers but adults.  Their questions, consequently, were also somewhat different, broader, more empathetic, and more focused on the world’s current political and social situation, and these continued afterwards in the hallway over glasses of wine.

The meeting (and the wine) were hosted by Beata Machała, CFO of Gutek Film at Warsaw’s cinema “Muranow”, one of the cinemas with the most interesting and consistent art house repertoire, which also hosts numerous festivals and retrospectives.

by George J Elbaum

starting the talk

the audience

by George J Elbaum

Płońsk, a town 40 mi. northwest of Warsaw, was initially established in the 11th century, gained city rights in early 15th century, and now its population is 22,500.  In the early 20th century, its population of 10,000 was equally divided between Poles and Jews.  Many of the Jewish residents of Plonsk immigrated to Palestine, spurred on by the idea of building a Jewish homeland.   In September 1940, one year after the Nazi invasion, Jews from the town and the surrounding areas were imprisoned in a ghetto in harsh conditions, including a typhus epidemic.  In total, 12,000 Jews were prisoners in the Plonsk ghetto, and in October 1942 they were sent to Auschwitz extermination camp, never to return.

Płonsk’s Henryk Sienkiewicz High School has an enrollment of 600 students aged 16-19, and it has participated in the School of Dialogue Program in 2019.  Coordinating this program in the school was history teacher Ireneusz Cała, who also organized my talk which was attended by 50 students, and reading from my book in Polish were students Natalia, Kinga, Andzelika and Michal.   Also in attendance were school principal Karina Kmiecinska, representatives of the Municipal Library in Płońsk, plus the Forum for Dialogue’s Marta Usiekniewicz and Hanna Gospodarczyk, who accompanied me to Plonsk and provided translation as needed.

starting the talk

the audience

by George J Elbaum

Pułtusk, a town 43 miles north of Warsaw with a current population of about 19,000, has existed since at least the 10th century.  It’s one of the oldest cities in Poland, and due to its Italian-influenced architecture, canals and floating gondolas it became known as “Little Polish Venice”.  The favorable placement of the town on the Narew River, where grain and other goods were transported to the port of Gdańsk on the Baltic Sea, contributed to the town’s growth and importance.  On the other hand, during the millennium of its existence Pułtusk was possibly the most invaded town in Poland.  Despite the extent of the destruction, especially during World War II, the town has been reconstructed and is now one of the most recognized and admired tourist destinations in the region because of its historical and unique architecture.  Before the start of World War II Pultusk’s Jewish population was about half of the town’s total 15,000.  However, on September 7, 1939 the town came under the control of the Nazis who, within the month, deported the town’s Jews to concentration camps from which none ever returned.

The Tadeusz Kosciuszko 3^rd Public Elementary School in Pultusk has an enrollment of ca. 700 students in grades 1 to 8.  The school was established immediately after World War II in a former court building, and it has been quite active in educating its students about tolerance and history, including its current participation in the School of Dialogue program.  The School of Dialogue program at Pultusk is coordinated by English teacher Sylwia Narwojsz, who also organized my talk which was attended by 50 students in grades 7 and 8.  Also in attendance were Małgorzata Załoga, supporting teacher in primary education, librarian Malgorzata Grzesiak, and Aneta Szymańska, a Leader of Dialogue from Pułtusk whose efforts are focused on discovering and restoring Jewish heritage in the region – she  invited us to lunch on our next visit to Pultusk, and considering her tremendous enthusiasm, how could I but accept 😊!  The Forum for Dialogue’s Marta Usiekniewicz and Hanna Gospodarczyk accompanied me to Pultusk and provided translation as needed.

the school’s welcome, with Aneta Szymanska – Thank You!

the audience

by George J Elbaum

XLV Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace im. Romualda Traugutta is a public high school with an enrollment of 150 students in 3 grades (Polish high schools start the grade count at 1, so ages 15/16 for 1^st and 18/19 for 3^rd grade).  The school is located on Warsaw’s Mila Street, in an area that the Nazis walled in as the Warsaw ghetto (and where all buildings were leveled on Hitler’s orders after the ghetto uprising of April 1943 was defeated), so teacher Elzbieta Kunowska, who organized my talk at the school, feels both obliged and privileged to teach about the Holocaust, to commemorate its victims, and to remember what happened on this very ground during WWII.  The school therefore takes part in many projects devoted to the Holocaust as part of programs organized by the Forum for Dialogue and the Polin Museum of History of Polish Jews.  The school truly stresses the importance of the Holocaust in its education, and its motto is: ‘’School is not a building; students, teachers and their relationship create school”

My talk was attended by 90 students from the current 1^st and 2^nd grades of the school, as the 3^rd grade students have already graduated the previous week.  In addition to Elzbieta Kunowska, the religion teacher who organized my talk, also attending were history teacher Michal Osypowicz, and English teachers Adrianna Kunka and Beata Swiatkowska, plus Violetta Tarnowska, who organized my very first talk in Warsaw at her school in 2014 and my subsequent talks in Warsaw since then.

by George J Elbaum

The British School Warsaw was founded in 1992 and has become the leading international school in Warsaw, delivering high quality innovative education in a rapidly changing environment.  Its current enrollment in Year 1-13 is 1152 students, of which 42% are Polish.  Based on a foundation of British culture and the pursuit of excellence, the school takes pride in its history and heritage.  This is evidenced in its curriculum and uniforms, its discipline, culture and values. Like the best British schools globally, it challenges its students to live by its values – “Respect, Honesty, Diversity and Community.”

The school’s modern facilities include classrooms, science laboratories, indoor and outdoor play facilities, sports halls, art rooms, music technology suite and practice rooms, and mobile computer facilities linked to a fully functional wi-fi system across the school.

The high academic standards of the school are demonstrated by the fact that since 2001 The British School Warsaw has delivered the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, facilitating entry for its graduates to the finest universities worldwide.  The school’s IB Programme is centered in the IB Learning Centre for senior students.  Another example of its academic achievement is its collaboration with top international universities in specific areas such as STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics).  Specifically, MIT provides The British School with STEAM challenges developed by MIT professors, and which it uses to guide its STEAM curriculum and engage as many students and grade levels with these challenges as possible.

My talk to Year 9 students was organized by Richard Bridges, the school’s Head of History, and was also attended by Paul Mitchell, Head of Year 11 and Math, and Rob Prokic, Head of Year 9 and Math.  It was arranged by Violetta Tarnowska, who arranged my first talk in Warsaw at her school in 2014 and many subsequent talks.

starting the talk