BANNER ARTICLE--January 2007
Education Committee to Conduct Teacher Training Workshops

NCRR’s Education Committee had a very active 2006. In the first half of 2006 Stand Up For Justice, the Ralph Lazo docudrama was shown at California teachers’ workshops and conferences, at Day of Remembrance commemorations, and to a group of teachers attending the Manzanar Pilgrimage. In addition, Patty and Steve Nagano screened the film for professors and students in Tokyo, Japan. Presenters at the meetings used the NCRR-developed prototype curriculum guide to instruct teachers on the use of Stand Up For Justice in their classrooms. Using feedback from workshop attendees and curriculum experts, the NCRR Education committee members spent the latter half of 2006 honing the contents of the curriculum guide. Improvements included more activities in the lesson plan, enlargement of the photo cards, and expanded historical content.

With the guide ready to go to print, the committee is gearing up for a hectic 2007. Thanks to grants from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, Henri & Tomoye Takahashi and the Japanese American Community Services, more than 1000 California secondary school teachers will receive a complimentary copy of the Stand Up For Justice guide and DVD. The 300 teachers who have already attended screenings and workshops will be sent their copy of Stand Up For Justice film/guide in the near future.

NCRR teachers have committed to present the film and guide at the following teacher conferences in March and April 2007: the California Teachers Association, California Council for the Social Studies, and the California Association for Bilingual Education. For the second year in a row UCLA Center X and NCRR will sponsor a teacher-training workshop in Los Angeles. A presentation is also scheduled for the Franklin High School National Center for High School History in Schools meeting. Locally, workshops will be held in the Torrance, Long Beach and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. The film will also screen in Torrance on February 19, 2007 as part of the Torrance Community Services Department “Works in Progress” program.