The Butterfly Project

The Levine JCC’s Butterfly Project Workshops are interactive sessions focused on teaching the lessons of the Holocaust – how to identify and combat prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination, and to promote activism. The goal of the Levine JCC’s Butterfly Project is to teach each participant to remember the past, to act responsibly in the present and to create a more peaceful future.

It is critical that today’s youth examine the past in order to understand what can happen when individuals and governments fail to take a stand against injustice. The Levine JCC’s Butterfly Project teaches the lessons of the Holocaust and what can happen when biased attitudes, biased acts, and discrimination are allowed to flourish. The goal is that students implement what they have learned at a Butterfly Project Workshop into their daily lives so that, ultimately, they can better understand how to interrupt hateful behaviors in their schools, communities, society and beyond. We want to help each student understand the difference one person can make. Students walk away with an awareness of the effects of the Holocaust on its most innocent victims – the children.

• The 2 ½ hour workshop includes:
  • listening to a Holocaust survivor’s story, followed by Q&A.
  • an interactive multimedia exercise using the Anti-Defamation League’s Pyramid of Hate, during which students examine what can happen when individuals and governments fail to respect and protect all people
  • painting a ceramic butterfly in memory of a specific child who perished in the Holocaust
  • a discussion in the Margaret and Lou Schwartz Butterfly Garden, while viewing the Holocaust Memorial.
    

The Margaret & Lou Schwartz Butterfly Garden Holocaust Memorial was created to memorialize the 1.5 million youth who were killed in the Holocaust. The sculpture was dedicated on Yom Ha’Shoah, the Day of Remembrance, May 1, 2011. Subsequent additions to the Garden include an Inspirational Pathway with seven quotations, a seating area, as well as plantings – creating an uplifting and inspiring space.   

Paul Rousso, a native Charlottean and accomplished visual artist, designed the memorial sculpture. He encourages visitors to search for meaning in all aspects of the artwork – the grout color, the broken butterfly pieces, the sculpture shape and any other element that one finds inspirational. Mr. Rousso was greatly assisted by Patrick Robertson, a talented local mosaic artist. Mr. Rousso feels uniquely connected to this project since many of his own family members were killed in the Holocaust.

To Participate

Workshops are scheduled via a reservation link sent in early May for the following school year.  Please contact Emily Russell, Levine JCC Butterfly Project Administrator, at [email protected] or 704.944.6833 to be added to our mailings or with any questions.

Workshop curriculum is appropriate for students in grades 6 through 8^th grade. Workshops are $7 per participant and scheduled Tuesdays through Thursdays: limited to 100 participants per day.  Scholarships available upon request.  Not part of a group? Open community workshops are conducted each year, and will be published on the LJCC web site under community events.

Lesson Plans

Freedom Writers movie – Extension Project 

First they Came . . . Updating Martin Niemöller’s quote Students will explore the concepts of individual and collective responsibility for WWII atrocities by analyzing and critiquing Martin Niemöller’s famous statement. They will further explore and determine their own sense of responsibility for current local and world events.

Imagine a World without Hate – Video Educators Guide The Imagine a World Without Hate™ Video Educator’s Guide was developed to facilitate middle and high school-aged youth in thinking about the impact of prejudice and hate. The activities outlined in this guide provide youth with the opportunity to learn more about the lives of people who were killed by hate violence and to use their stories as an opportunity to reflect on how fighting hate and bigotry at an early stage can change lives and history.

Pyramid of Alliance Building on the ADL’s Pyramid of Hate concept used in the Butterfly Project Workshops, this activity has high school students examining some of the ways that people can take action against bigotry. The activity also gives students an opportunity to consider some of the ways a person can be an ally, and to assess how building alliances strengthens a community.

History Unfolded Help uncover what ordinary people around the country could have known about the Holocaust from reading their local newspapers in the years 1933-1945.  

Reflections Chose a quote for verbal or written response as whole or small groups. 

Websites

ADL, founded in 1913, “fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry and protects civil rights for all.” ADL produces a variety of teacher resources including comprehensive curriculum guides and lesson plans for all grades.

IWitness Testimonies, activities and digital resources. Free registration for educators.

Echoes and Reflections Provides educators with the professional development and resources necessary to develop the knowledge, capacity, and practice required to responsibly and effectively teach the Holocaust.

Learning for Justice A clearinghouse of information about anti-bias programs and activities being implemented in schools across the country.

The Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center A community resource for Holocaust and human rights education and for collaboration on social justice issues. The center provides physical and online resources with the most up-to-date curricular and research materials.

The Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Education of North Carolina (Holocaust Speakers Bureau) assists local educators and organizations with teaching the challenging topics of the Holocaust, genocide, tolerance and human rights.  The Center works with teachers, schools and organizations to develop age-appropriate materials and presentations.

The North Carolina Council on the Holocaust, an agency of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, provides teacher workshops and educational resources across the state. 

Holocaust Educators Network Offers a 12-day summer seminar for faculty from middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities interested in furthering their knowledge about the Holocaust and other genocides.

Jewish Heritage North Carolina   The only statewide independent organization dedicated to collect, preserve and present the history of the Jewish people of our State.