News

Missouri Holocaust Education & Awareness--Seeking Pilot Districts

May 1, 2023

See Administrative Memo OCCR-23-006: Seeking Participants for the 2023-24 Holocaust Education Pilot Program.<https://dese.mo.gov/seeking-participants-2023-24-holocaust-education-pilot-program>

On June 30, 2022, Governor Parson signed into law Senate Bills 681 and 662 (2022), which mandates Holocaust education for Missouri's students in grades 6-12. This mandate will begin with a pilot program during the 2023-24 school year, with all school districts participating by the 2025-26 school year.

Per Section 161.700, RSMo, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), in consultation with the Missouri Holocaust Education and Awareness Commission, is creating a curriculum framework with available resources to meet this mandate. The 2023-24 pilot program will be available for up to 25 school districts, or individual schools within a district, with at least one district or school within each of Missouri's nine Regional Professional Development Center areas. Each school district participating in the pilot shall adopt the DESE-provided curriculum framework in the 2023-24 school year and provide a plan for the professional development for teachers to ensure the teachers are adequately prepared to provide the required instruction.

The curriculum framework with suggested resources for teaching the Holocaust, as well as a high-quality professional development training session for the 25 pilot districts, will be available in spring 2023. Districts and schools are invited to nominate one or two interested educators to participate in this pilot.

Participants will receive

*state-funded professional development and high-quality resources for educators;

*access to mentors who will support implementing the curriculum framework;

*opportunities to provide feedback on the curriculum framework; and

*opportunities for involvement in a cadre of Missouri Holocaust educators.

The professional development session, Implementing Missouri's Holocaust Curriculum Framework, will be presented by the Missouri Holocaust Education and Awareness Commission June 4-6, 2023, at the Hampton Inn & Suites, located at 1225 Fellow Place, Columbia, MO.

Interested districts/schools must register no later than May 12, 2023, via this form. Additional information will be forwarded to teachers selected for the pilot. For program-specific questions or more information on applying, contact Cammy Goucher, English Language Development Director, at 573-751-3926 or Cammy.Goucher@dese.mo.gov.