Houston-area educators complete the 2026 JFR Summer Institute

This summer the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous welcomed a new class of Alfred Lerner Fellows to our Summer Institute for Teachers. The Jewish Herald-Voice in Houston reported that two Houston-area educators completed the intensive five-day course: MaryBeth Nicol of Thompson Intermediate School in Pearland and Adriana Castro of Holocaust Museum Houston.

They joined 22 middle and high school teachers and Holocaust center staff from across the United States and Poland. In all, the JFR selected 24 Fellows from nine states and Poland for 2026. The Institute was held at the Hilton Newark Airport from June 20 through June 24. It opened with a lecture on the history of anti-Judaism and antisemitism and concluded with a lecture on contemporary antisemitism.

The Summer Institute is a high-level academic seminar. Participants study with noted Holocaust scholars. After each lecture they meet in small groups to take up the aspect of the Holocaust just presented, share teaching concepts, and develop approaches for introducing the subject to their students.

Speaking with the Jewish Herald-Voice, Nicol called the Institute an amazing experience and an opportunity to learn from speakers and scholars from all over the world. In twenty years of teaching, she said, this was the first time she had ever taken 73 pages of notes. She came home with a list of new books to read, and she said the week solidified the need to keep teaching students about the Holocaust and antisemitism. Nicol, a librarian who sees students for 45 minutes every two weeks, told the JHV she would like to make mini-lessons for the library that tie in with digital and media literacy. She is also working with a district specialist to create a three- to six-week curriculum for seventh-grade Reading and Language Arts classes, and she is trying to coordinate professional development for high school teachers who teach the Holocaust and World War II.

The three primary goals of the JFR's Summer Institute are to provide teachers with a graduate-level course on antisemitism and the Holocaust; to empower educators to develop pedagogical connections with other teachers; and to equip these teachers with additional resources to bring back to their classrooms.

The nationally acclaimed fellowship is named in memory of Alfred Lerner, founding chairman and chief executive officer of MBNA Corporation, who died in October 2002. Lerner was a longtime advisor and supporter of JFR programs. His commitment to our work and his special interest in Holocaust education led to the seminar being endowed in his name. Teachers selected for the program must be English or social studies teachers at the middle or high school level, have taught for at least five years, be at least five years from retirement, and currently teach the Holocaust in their classroom.

Read the Jewish Herald-Voice article. Learn more about the Summer Institute and our other teacher programs on our Seminars & Institutes page and at Education.