Lisa Henry

Lisa Henry

Lisa Henry, a teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. Academy for Excellence (Fayette County), has been selected for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Teacher Fellowship Program.

The museum selects up to 20 educators each year from grades 7-12 who show evidence of extensive knowledge of Holocaust history, successful teaching experience and participation in community and professional organizations for the program, which helps ensure that learning how and why the Holocaust happened is an important component of education in the United States. Henry – who teachers sophomore English, senior English and creative writing – is the third Kentucky teacher chosen for the fellowship program since its inception in 1996.

“It is imperative to teach young people about the Holocaust so they can become educated citizens who think critically and who do not allow the opportunity for another state-sponsored genocide to happen,” said Henry, who plans to add such an elective class next year at MLK.

The all-expenses-paid summer institute in Washington is designed to immerse fellows in advanced historical and pedagogical issues. Afterward, they are expected to create and implement an outreach project in their schools, communities or professional organizations. They will attend a follow-up program at the museum in July 2018 to assess their efforts and to continue their study with museum staff and noted speakers.