UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State will celebrate its ninth GivingTuesday on Tuesday, Nov. 28 — and the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Education Initiative, part of the Hammel Family Human Rights Initiative, invites alumni and friends to support its innovative programming for K-12 educators.
Housed within the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, the initiative helps teachers identify difficult issues they face in their curriculum or community, collect and analyze data, and take informed action. The initiative guides participating teachers in creating classroom learning environments where students can engage in civic discourse while developing empathy, active listening, and critical thinking.
Alumni and friends’ support will help pay for programming costs across the United States.
“I wondered how I could address challenging topics with students who have trauma. By collecting data for my inquiry, I was finding out things that students were dealing with or thinking about at home, sometimes from students that I never would have guessed,” said Towanda Lemon-McKie, a program participant and sixth grade writing and science teacher in the Red Lion Area School District in Red Lion, Pennsylvania.
Although GivingTuesday takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 28, Penn State’s celebration is kicking off early on Monday, Nov. 27, at 18:55 (6:55 p.m. EST) — a nod to the year in which the University was founded. Those interested in contributing to expanding teacher professional development or establishing a personal fundraising page as a campaign champion can learn more here.
“My parents believed strongly in the idea of ‘tikkun olam,’ which is Hebrew for ‘repair the world.’ It means you should try to leave the world in a better position than when you entered it. We believe this initiative really has the potential to do that, to make a profound, positive, transformational difference that carries down through the generations,” said Vic Hammel, a Penn State graduate who, with his wife, Dena, support the program through the Hammel Family Human Rights Initiative.
The initiative’s programs center educators and their practice as professionals, while supporting them in the classroom application of this work. Program participant Sara Strouse, a middle school social studies teacher in the Keystone Central School District in Mill Hall, Pennsylvania, said, “Due to past, or even generational, experiences in education, many students feel anxious to try and potentially fail, leading them to hold back from finding solutions and seeking answers on their own. The process of inquiry helps give students the tools to work on building this skillset and mindset shift. “
Gifts made on GivingTuesday advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.