Here's what the Education Department at Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) has been up to over the last month.

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Speaker's Idol Is TOMORROW!

It's that time of year again . . . trees are starting to bud . . . temperatures are warming up . . . and Speaker's Idol finalists are rehearsing their speeches one final time in preparation for the finale on Wednesday, May 4th!

Once again, the Speaker's Idol competition is filled with exceptional young people who have chosen to raise their voices and speak out about a human rights issue that is important to them. They are relating that issue to a quote by Simon Wiesenthal, "Information is resistance," and discussing ways they envision making this world a better place. Topics this year include domestic violence, mental health, residential schools, racism and antisemitism and climate change.  

This year's finalists are:
Grades 6 - 8:
Jaeda White, Grade 8, Newfoundland and Labrador
Erica Li, Grade 8, Ontario
Isla Mason, Grade 7, Ontario
Emmanuel Adewale, Grade 7, Ontario
Ethan Luo, Grade 6, Ontario
Mahaara Bhimani, Grade 7, Ontario

Grades 9-12
Sofia Rathjen, Grade 9, Alberta
Faith Aborode, Grade 9, Ontario
Johnna Pike, Grade 12, Newfoundland and Labrador
Nevaeh Pine, Grade 10, Ontario
Crystal Zhu, Grade 11, Ontario
Deema Abdel Hafeez, Grade 11, Ontario

We hope you will join us!

REGISTER FOR SPEAKER'S IDOL

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April an Unprecedented Month of Programming

From delivering Lessons and Legacies of the Holocaust to a classroom of elementary students in British Columbia to presenting Antisemitism: Then and Now to staff and volunteers at Sinai Health, the FSWC education team reached more than 16,500 students in April along with 1,500 adults from a variety of professional fields from across Canada.

Our student workshops, including the Tour for Humanity program which is back on the road full time, continue to be invited into classrooms across Canada. Last month alone, the FSWC education team delivered a variety of workshops to elementary and secondary students in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario.

Demand for training in the corporate space has also increased steadily. Last month, FSWC delivered programs to Dentons law firm, Sinai Health, Toronto Star and Maple Leaf Foods. We are pleased to see the equity, diversity and inclusivity spaces opening up to include discussions on antisemitism. There is still much work to be done, and FSWC plans to continue to build this area of programming.

FSWC was also pleased to partner with a number of organizations to deliver programming, including through our ongoing partnership with the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights with the In Conversation with a Survivor speaker series; Liberation75 (as part of their student education day); Mimouna; Vanier College for their 30th Annual Symposium on the Holocaust and Genocide; and Milton Public Library.  

If you didn't have a chance to join Holocaust Literature: A Canadian Perspective, our partnership program with the Association of Canadian Jewish Studies and the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University, you can view the recording of this unique conversation by clicking the video below.

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Tour for Humanity: Notes from the Road

While the Tour for Humanity has been back on the road visiting towns across Ontario this month - last week, the bus was in Wingham and Goodrich - the new second bus continues to take shape! Tour for Humanity Director Daniella Lurion visited the new bus last month to check on its progress and finalize details.  

Stay tuned for more updates coming soon!

LEARN MORE ABOUT TOUR FOR HUMANITY

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