WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is hosting an educational evening for families and combining for the first time two successful programs, "Through a Child’s Eyes" and "Bringing the Lessons Home" on Sunday, February 25. Held each year since 1998, "Through a Child’s Eyes" brings families to the Museum where Museum educators provide guided tours of the Museum’s Permanent Exhibition or Remember The Children, Daniel’s Story, the Museum’s exhibition for children.

"Bringing the Lessons Home" was established by the Museum in 1994 for Washington, DC-area public school students, their families and educators. Each year, interested students participate in an 11-week after-school core curriculum series, which offers intensive instruction on Holocaust history. The students then lead their parents, other students, and members of the community on Museum tours. Students who complete the program become eligible for both paid and volunteer opportunities at the Museum.

At this year’s "Through a Child’s Eyes" event, area public school students in the "Bringing the Lessons Home" program will lead tours for young people aged 11 and older. Following the tour, young people aged 14 and older and the "Bringing the Lessons Home" program participants will attend a roundtable dialogue entitled, "Can Children Make a Difference," examining how young people can address contemporary social issues. All participants will join a question-and-answer session with a Holocaust survivor.

"After learning of accomplishments of the Bringing the Lessons Home program, we wanted to bring it to the attention of the community and Museum supporters," states Gina Resnick Steinway, of Rockville, MD, and Chair of the Museum’s Education and Remembrance Fund Steering Committee of the Washington Metropolitan Region. "We’re proud to be combining this year’s ‘Through a Child’s Eyes’ event with one of the Museum’s important educational programs."

In addition to the Belfer Conferences, which are specifically designed for secondary school teachers with limited Holocaust education experience, every August the Museum hosts the annual Mandel Conference for teachers with five or more years’ experience in Holocaust education. Currently, there are 122 Mandel Fellows from 42 states. Together, these conferences allow the Museum to serve novice and expert Holocaust educators in developing Holocaust teaching techniques and broaden the scope of Holocaust studies nationwide.

"Bringing the Lessons Home" is supported by the Fannie Mae Foundation.

Contributions from families participating in "Through a Child’s Eyes" benefit the Museum’s Education and Remembrance Fund. The evening’s host families are Ann, Mark, Samantha, Michael and Kevin Birns, of Potomac, MD; Naomi, Michael, and BQ Quiqley, of Bethesda, MD; Randi, John, and Michael Sidgmore, of Potomac, MD; and Carol, Michael, Matthew, and Amanda Winer, of Potomac, MD.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is America’s national institution for the documentation, study and interpretation of Holocaust history, and serves as this country’s memorial to the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust. Since opening in April 1993, the Museum has welcomed more than 15 million visitors. The Museum’s primary mission is to advance and disseminate knowledge about this unprecedented tragedy; to preserve the memory of those who suffered; and to encourage its visitors to reflect upon the moral questions raised by the events of the Holocaust as well as their own responsibilities as citizens of a democracy.