News from the 19th Floor

MICAELA MCNIFF JOINS JFR STAFF

Micaela McNiff, an outstanding educator from Palm Beach County School District has joined the JFR staff as a Senior Program Associate – Education. We asked Micaela to introduce herself.

Hello! My name is Micaela McNiff, and I am so excited and grateful for the opportunity to join the JFR team. I have spent my career in social studies education, beginning as a classroom teacher and most recently serving as a Social Studies Curriculum Specialist for the School District of Palm Beach County, Florida.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in History and Secondary Education and later completed a Juris Master in American Legal Studies. I am currently pursuing my Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Florida. Education has always been incredibly important to me, and throughout my career, I have been fortunate to work with students, teachers, and school leaders in a variety of ways.

I am truly honored to be joining JFR. As an Alfred Lerner Fellow, I had the opportunity to experience JFR’s work firsthand as an educator and see the impact the organization has on teachers and, through them, their students. The opportunity to contribute to that work in a new way is incredibly meaningful to me. I am excited to bring my experiences in the classroom and at the school district level to this position, while also continuing to learn from Stanlee, the JFR team, the Lerner Fellows, and the broader JFR community.

One of the things I am most looking forward to is continuing to work with educators and supporting the work they are doing in their classrooms. Holocaust education carries an incredible responsibility, and being able to support teachers as they bring this history to their students is work that I care deeply about. I know how valuable it is as a teacher to have access to strong resources, meaningful professional learning, and a community of other educators who care deeply about what they teach. Having experienced that through the JFR myself makes the opportunity to now help provide that support to others particularly special to me.

I feel incredibly fortunate to be starting this next chapter with JFR!

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EXPLORING JFR DOCUMENTARIES AND RESCUER STORIES

Please explore the JFR’s rescuer section on our website. The rescuer section contains more than 200 individual stories of rescue. In the documentary section you will find award-winning documentaries of rescue stories. The documentaries are short, between 11 and 19 minutes, and are perfect for a classroom period. If you would like additional information on either the rescue stories or the documentaries, please reach out to Stanlee at sstahl@jfr.org. We continue to add rescue stories to our website.

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