HOLMUS 4767-22 Spring 2015 Newsletter -tp

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AROUND HMH
Volunteer Tour
Guides Needed
Holocaust Museum Houston is now
accepting applications for tour guides,
commonly called docents, to help teach
students and other visitors the dangers of
hatred, prejudice and apathy. Volunteers
will be trained in the history of theHolocaust
and taught to give tours as volunteer
guides during five weeks of training.
This year’s class will meet Mondays
and Wednesdays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
from Aug. 3 through Sept. 2, 2015.
Applications must be received by May
1, 2015. All classes will be held at the
Museum’s Morgan Family Center, 5401
Caroline St., in Houston’s Museum
District. Volunteers must be available
for tours during the day on weekdays.
Docents must commit to giving tours for
a one-year period. Weekday docents
generally give one two-hour tour per
week. During the school year, 20,000
to 30,000 students in middle school,
high school or college will tour the
Museum and more than 140,000 adults
from around the world will visit. Tours
are conducted every day, and several
schools may be represented on any day.
“I decided to be a docent when I retired
from teaching and I wanted to do two
things: give back to the community and
continue to work with students,” current
Docent Diane Merrill said. “As a teacher,
I taught a six-week unit on the Holocaust
to 10th-grade students, and it made me
aware how powerful a tool the Holocaust
is for making positive changes in the lives
of students.”
For more information on becoming a
docent, email or
call 713-527-1602.
The Museum’s docent training program is
generously underwritten by the Emil and
Anna Steinberger Endowment Fund.
Docent Madeline Podorzer guided a Spanish-language tour for 27 Hispanic leaders of various
churches in November.
25-year-old “Captain Neil,” an active-duty captain in the Israeli navy who participated in Operation
Protective Edge during the summer of 2014, met with Holocaust Survivor Zoly Zamir prior to a joint
program with the Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces in February.
Artist Pauline Jakobsberg, second from left, met with friends and family members prior to the
opening of “Birthrights Left Behind.”