embassy events 2009

Cantors Assembly Performance and Irena Sendler Award Presentation

1 July 2009

Irena Sendler

100 World Renowned Cantors performed at the Polish National Opera in Warsaw on June 30. The concert titled “Jewish Musical Expressions of the Soul – Symbols of Brotherhood and the Human Spirit. Jewish Vocal Masterpieces” was an expression of brotherhood and friendship to those who helped the Jewish people during the Holocaust.  This historic event involved the largest assembly of cantors in Poland since 1939.  The Cantors Assembly was accompanied by the Orchestra of the Polish National Opera and the Alla Polacca Children’s Choir. During the event, the Irena Sendler Award was presented to Beata Maliszkiewicz from Opole, the director of a school called Towarzystwo Alternatywej Edukacji.  Ms. Maliszkiewicz demonstrated exceptional efforts in the promotion of peace, tolerance, and social justice and developing innovative ways to promote an appreciation of diversity.

The Irena Sendler Award recognizes primary and secondary school teachers who educate and teach in the spirit of tolerance and respect, who inspire their students to pursue these values in activities within their schools and communities. It recognizes individuals who promote peace, tolerance, and social justice and develop innovative ways to promote an appreciation of diversity and differences in their communities. The award is funded by the Goldrich Family Foundation in California with the assistance of Ms. Metuka Benjamin, director of education at Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles. The award was initiated by Irena Sendler, whose amazing rescue of 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto continues to inspire all who learn about her work rescuing and hiding Jewish children from the various ghettos in Poland during the Holocaust.  Every year the Award is presented to one Polish and one American teacher. The U.S. Embassy’s Cultural Attaché serves as one of the members of the Jury.  The Embassy sponsored the statuettes for the first awardees. 

The nomination process is coordinated by the Center for Citizenship Education.
 
More about the Irena Sendler Project in the U.S.:
http://www.irenasendler.org/awards.asp

The recipients of the previous awards are:

Robert Szuchta, teacher of history at the Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz High School of in Warsaw
Norman Conard, teacher from Union Town, Kansas, USA
Anna Janina Kloza, teacher of Polish literature, High School No. 6 in Bialystok
Andrew Beiter, Social Studies teacher in the Springville Middle School, New York, USA.

Links:

Cantors Assembly
Polish National Opera
Wise Temple in LA