Taking a Stand Against Antisemitism in Schools (Ep. 13)
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Episode Notes
Antisemitism in America is on the rise. In 2022, the Anti-Defamation League reported a 50% increase in antisemitic acts in schools over the previous year. In this episode, two students from Montgomery County, Maryland discuss the impact of recent antisemitic acts at their high school. One of them, Rachel Barold, was the target of a particularly vile and terrifying incident. Drawing attention from national media, she led a walkout at her school in which hundreds of her classmates and several community leaders called upon district leaders to do more to prevent hateful acts toward Jewish students.
Joining them are a parent, a teacher educator, and a Rutgers University professor who has devoted much of his career studying what educators can do to promote the kind of character that is needed in a democratic society.
Professor Elias says creating safe and caring schools should be a top priority for educators and administrators. This entails cultivating an environment where all students feel secure, supported, and valued, regardless of their background or culture. This can be fostered through character education, social-emotional learning, and ongoing professional development for teachers and staff—practices that ensure that students feel included and understood.
Featured Guests:
Rebecca Schgallis
Rebecca Schgallis is an educator who founded United Against Antisemitism (UAA), an advocacy organization that fights antisemitism in K-12 schools. She was the Humanities Department chair at the nation’s number one high school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, teaching history, religion, and government. She holds master’s degrees in both education and history, specializing in American and twentieth century German history with a focus on the Holocaust and antisemitism.
Dr. Maurice J. Elias
Maurice J. Elias is Professor, Psychology Department, Rutgers University, Director, Rutgers Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab (www.secdlab.org) and Co-Director of the Academy for SEL in Schools (SELinSchools.org) He is a Fellow in APA Divisions 16, 53, 12, 9, and 27 and is a licensed psychologist in NJ. He received the Joseph E. Zins Memorial Senior Scholar Award for Social-Emotional Learning from CASEL, the Sanford McDonnell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Character Education, and the Jane Bostrum Service to School Psychology Award . He has co-written Morning Classroom Conversations: Build Your Students’ Social-Emotional, Character and Communication Skills Every Day, Students Taking Action Together: 5 Teaching Techniques to Cultivate SEL, Civic Engagement, and a Healthy Democracy, and Boost Emotional Intelligence in Students: 30 Flexible Research-Based Lessons to Build EQ Skills (for Tier 2). For parents, he has written Emotionally Intelligent Parenting, Talking Treasure: Stories to Help Build Emotional Intelligence and Resilience in Young Children (www.researchpress.com), and The Joys & Oys of Parenting (Behrman House).
Rachel Berold
Rachel Barold is a freshman at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, has been on the receiving end of antisemitic comments and threats for much of her first year at the school. But she wouldn’t call herself a victim. The 15-year-old has taken matters into her own hands, and has inspired other Jewish high schoolers to do the same.
As a founding member of Jewish student group Jews4Change, Barold organized a school walkout on Dec. 22, following an antisemitic incident in which “Jews Not Welcome” was graffitied on the school’s sign board — only a day after someone graffitied a swastika on a bench at Montgomery Mall. Three hundred to 600 students showed up to the protest the day before the school’s winter break.
Eliana Joftus, High school student at Walt Whitman High in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and president of the Jewish Student Union.
Nicole, Parent of students in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
Related Reading:
Montgomery students lament antisemitism surging in their schools, by Nicole Asbury, The Washington Post
Whitman HS community calls on MCPS to take action amid antisemitic graffiti incidents, Ida Domingo, ABC7 News
Students condemn antisemitism, and share personal experiences during first-period walkout, by, Ines Foscarini, The Black & White
About the Show:
Courageous Conversations About Our Schools is a podcast that brings people together for respectful conversations about today’s most contentious issues affecting our schools.
Host, Ken Futernick
Courageous Conversations About Our Schools is hosted by Ken Futernick. Ken also hosts Teacher Stories, a podcast about the profound impact so many teachers have on their students and communities. Teacher Stories produced a special series of episodes on the question, What can schools do to help save our democracy?
Ken is an experienced moderator, a teacher educator, and a long-time advocate for collaboration and civil dialogue.
He is the author of the book, The Courage to Collaborate - the Case for Labor-Management Collaboration in Education.
Please feel free to send comments and questions to ken@schoolconversations.org.