4J Eugene School District and GPI Collaboration

The Genocide Prevention Initiative (GPI)  at the University of Oregon has partnered with the 4J Eugene School District in an effort to empower our community’s students to take meaningful action in the interest of preserving human rights.  Superintendent Shelley Berman, who has joined the Savage steering committee, Principal Randy Bernstein of South Eugene High School, and other 4J teachers are paving the way in bringing genocide studies and prevention into the classroom.

One of these teachers, who has been active in fostering a relationship between 4J and the GPI and whose engagement with materials relevant to the GPI in the classroom is outstanding, is Clair Wiles.

Wiles

Clair Wiles left active duty navy service as a machinist in 1995 and continued in the navy reserve as an intelligence officer until her retirement in 2011. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a bachelor’s degree in English and history in 1998 and a master’s degree in education in 2000. She has been teaching at North Eugene High School for 15 years. Her history classes at North have always included a focus on peace and human rights.  A recent example is the Holocaust Project which Clair led her students through last Spring:

The sophomores at North Eugene High School engaged in a month long interdisciplinary study of the Holocaust in the Spring of 2014. Their curriculum included a close reading of Elie Wiesel’s Night and a profound look at the question of the role/obligations of a bystander.  For the culminating project Clair asked students to research acts of resistance (violent and non-violent) during the Holocaust and to create museum displays that represented these brave acts. Students came away from the project inspired by the selfless acts undertaken by people from many faiths, countries and circumstances to make a difference during the Holocaust.

It is projects like this on which the GPI hopes to collaborate with Clair and the 4J school district as we continue to build our relationship.  Stay tuned for news on collaborative projects and events to come in the upcoming school year!

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *