BRANCHBURG TOWNSHIP, N.J. (Somerset County) — A Somerset County middle school teacher was among 14 educators from five states selected to participate in the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous’ 2026 European Study Program in Poland, an intensive Holocaust education initiative designed to strengthen classroom instruction.
Nicole Kepner of Branchburg Central Middle School joined middle and high school teachers and Holocaust center personnel from Alabama, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey and South Carolina for the immersive program.
The educational experience included lectures and visits to Holocaust sites throughout Poland, including Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, Treblinka, the Warsaw Ghetto, Chełmno nad Nerem and other locations connected to the Holocaust. Participants also met with historians and Polish officials while learning about the history of the Holocaust through firsthand experiences at the sites where events occurred.
Noted Holocaust historian Robert Jan van Pelt accompanied the group as the program’s scholar.
Throughout the program, educators reflected on how to incorporate their experiences into Holocaust instruction for students and fellow educators.
“As we continue to move further away from the Holocaust, it is more important to empower our educators to better teach their students about the Holocaust,” said JFR Executive Vice President Stanlee Stahl. “By visiting the places where these complex events occurred, educators are better able to connect to what they are teaching, making them more effective teachers.”
“The program is designed to help educators learn the Holocaust experientially so they can present it in a more meaningful and insightful way to their students and colleagues when they return to their schools,” she added.
The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous provides financial assistance to aging Righteous Gentiles who helped rescue Jews during the Holocaust and sponsors Holocaust education programs for teachers across the United States. According to the foundation, it has provided more than $46.5 million in assistance to rescuers since its founding.
