(Fremont County, WY) – Heather Pasquinelli, longtime Fremont County educator and current English teacher at Arapahoe Charter High School, was one of only 25 teachers worldwide recently chosen to attend TOLI Institute summer seminar for Holocaust educators back in July.
Pasquinelli spent 2 weeks in NYC as part of a cohort for the seminar, which “encouraged participants to think creatively and collaboratively about how they teach the Holocaust, genocide, and social justice,” and aimed to help attendees “become adept at dealing with difficult material and discover how writing, dialogue, and inquiry can help motivate students toward social action.”
In addition to the TOLI honor, Pasquinelli was also chosen as one of 50 high school teachers to participate in the Learning for Justice Teaching Hard History cohort that will take place over the next several months.
“I really feel so honored and fortunate to have been chosen for both cohorts,” commented Pasquinelli, who has also been a Teacher Fellow for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC since 2013.
“Education in social justice issues builds empathy and compassion for the human rights of all people.”
“Teaching the lessons of the Holocaust for nearly 20 years now, I am still so interested in learning new and exciting ways to incorporate those lessons through reading in the English classroom. I am grateful to TOLI and the USHMM for their ongoing support and looking forward to this new venture with Learning for Justice and for the new experiences they will provide for my students.”