On three occasions, Carrying Testimony has provided an immersive and empowering experience for our students and staff. We reached out to this organization in the hopes of educating our students about the historical significance of the Holocaust, but we recieved so much more than that. Carrying Testimony uses video clips, photos, interviews and oral storytelling to engage the audience in an engaging and important educational presentation. Michelle Glied-Goldstein is so dedicated to the mission of Carrying Testimony, and I am so grateful that the presenters are able to preserve this important history to share for generations to come. Thank you Carrying Testimony for teaching us about empathy, allyship, historical significance and instilling hope for the future.
We simply cannot thank you enough for sharing your father’s testimony. The story that you told was brave and powerful. Our learning journey in our efforts to confront Racism, Bias and Hate was made stronger through your generous commitment to our students and staff.
We reflected on how engaged our students were while listening to you speak, sitting it silence and taking it all in. Thank you for sharing your father’s experiences and giving us a platform to further student discussion.
Bialik Hebrew Day School partnered with Carrying Holocaust Testimony for a meaningful Grandparent Day experience in November 2020. Michelle’s compassion, insight and knowledge about the Holocaust, told through the story of her late father Bill z”l, was moving for students and their grandparents. Michelle is a consummate professional who speaks of a hard journey with grace. In this age of Zoom, she effortlessly led us through an incredible and engaging presentation. We look forward to working together again.
Since the start of this organization I have been very fortunate to have listened to three different presentations with my students. I have incorporated these presentations into my Grade 10 Canadian History and Grade 12 Equity and Social Justice courses. One of the biggest lessons my students have taken away from these presentations is to be an upstander and not a bystander. An organization like Carrying Testimony reminds us to be kind, have a voice and to support one another.
We were so fortunate to have Carrying Testimony, presented at our school in October. Bill Glied's Holocaust experiences will never be forgotten thanks to this amazing program. Northview Heights students are now more aware and informed about this dark chapter in our history.
The virtual presentation was just FABULOUS. You were able to hear a pin DROP. Most importantly was the follow up. The next day, I asked the students how many went home and shared the experience with their families. SO MANY did. I was so thrilled. Never underestimate what kind of questions a 12 year old can ask. Some even tied it to the residential schools.
We were so fortunate to have a school-wide presentation this morning with you. Such a powerful presentation! We are truly in your debt for sharing this brilliant presentation with our community. I really appreciated the calls to everyone not to be a bystander. Profound and critically important for all of us – every single day.
We were so impressed by the sensitive yet, powerful messages that emerged from the stories from your father. Each staff member who saw the presentation came by the office to express their gratitude for the presentation. Some said that your father’s and others’ stories from the Holocaust should be mandatory learning, embedded in the curriculum formally.
As a survivor, your dad recognized all the inhumanity that was he was subject to yet lived his life with so much belief in humanity. He reminded our students that while we can easily be persuaded to do bad, we all need to stand up together and “stop and do one kind thing”.
Our students have had the enriching experience of becoming a witness as they listened to a witness.
I want to thank you for the phenomenal workshop and presentation you brought to our students today. Both your video with your father, and your own live explanations were engaging and profound. You left a deep impression on all of our students, staff, and myself.
Thank you in particular for the learnings and the foundational messages you and your father left our community with. I can’t recommend your workshop strongly enough, we will gladly have you back if you are willing!
Michelle is the strongest person I have ever met. Her presentation was exactly what our Gr 6-8 students needed and at the right time. Words cannot express our sincere gratitude for her strength and openness to our students. She truly made an incredible impact.
Thank you, Michelle, for a powerful (on-line) presentation about your father’s journey as a Holocaust Survivor. Following the presentation, many students and staff shared with me the incredible impact your father’s story, as movingly recounted by you, had on them. Moreover, your presentation supported our school’s focus on deepening equity awareness for students and continuing to embed social justice within teaching and learning at The Elms.
Je tenais à vous remercier pour la présentation que vous avez offerte à nos élèves de 6e année ce matin. Le témoignage essentiel de votre père Moishe a su toucher nos élèves et leur faire prendre conscience des horreurs de la Shoah. Nous sommes chanceux de vous compter comme membre de notre communauté scolaire, et nous espérons vivement que vous pourrez continuer à partager votre héritage familial avec nos élèves de nouveau. Je sais que j'aimerais bien vous inviter l'an prochain pour parler à nos futurs élèves de 6e année. Encore une fois, merci infiniment pour votre présentation inspirante et pour votre contribution à l'éducation de nos enfants.
While these presentations provide an intimate look into the history of the Holocaust through a specific individual’s experiences, they also allow for students to reflect on how the lessons of the Holocaust are still relevant in today’s Canadian Society.
She kept reiterating that it’s important to understand our past mistakes to make sure we don’t repeat them and this was really understood by my students. The program was age appropriate and I highly recommend this program for all schools.
Having the opportunity of listening to a first hand account of a [survivor’s] experience provided the students and myself with a clear description of what life was like during the Holocaust. The students were absolutely captivated.
The students walked away with the understanding of what it means to not be a bystander. Carrying Holocaust Testimony is a presentation that every upper elementary student needs to hear.
The survivor’s story, as told in person by [his granddaughter] Ashley , along with the video interviews and historical photographs, gave students a first-hand understanding of the experience of Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.
We wanted to thank you for your presentation last week. It was really meaningful and the students were engaged and had lots of questions. Staff present, also found it profound and we even talked about it at our staff meeting last week.
While these presentations provide an intimate look into the history of the Holocaust through a specific individual’s experiences, they also allow for students to reflect on how the lessons of the Holocaust are still relevant in today’s Canadian Society.
Thank you, Michelle, for a powerful (on-line) presentation about your father’s journey as a Holocaust Survivor. Following the presentation, many students and staff shared with me the incredible impact your father’s story, as movingly recounted by you, had on them. Moreover, your presentation supported our school’s focus on deepening equity awareness for students and continuing to embed social justice within teaching and learning at The Elms.
Bill Glied had been speaking to my grade 10 History students for several years, and many students would report that hearing Bill's story and meeting him was one of the most important days in their high school career. I am so grateful to have, through Carrying Holocaust Testimony, Bill's story brought to so many other students, allowing them to connect to what they are learning in class in a personal and meaningful way. Through his daughter Michelle, my students now continue to have the opportunity to hear his important lessons and become a new generation of witnesses.
I thought [her] presentation was just right. It captured Bill’s story and legacy perfectly, not to mention their own relationship… I would be thrilled to have her back both semesters next year if she can fit it in.
This is an excellent alternative when the Survivors can no longer speak. It is very impactful for the students to hear the story from the perspectives of the children of the Survivors and what they went through.
For [the students] to hear first hand from the Survivor’s family and connect on a level that we can’t have in the classroom in a video that we present ourselves is instrumental for the students to experience and connects them to the material.
You hear what happened in class but [it’s] the emotion and manner that was presented … in my opinion, that gives us a better respect and understanding of the terrifying event.
I thought that it was really engaging and informative and I really enjoyed learning about Bill Glied’s story.
I thought it was really powerful to see the videos and hear from someone who had a very personal connection to the Holocaust. It provided some much needed reality to the situation because a lot of the time in class, the entirety of the Holocaust can seem almost unbelievable and often times I can’t wrap my head around the atrocities of Nazi Germany.
I found that I learned more about the Holocaust by listening to her presentation as I was listening to a real example of someone’s life, than I would have in class.
I liked that even though we didn’t hear first hand from the survivor for most of it, we still heard it from someone who was affected very strongly by it.