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The International School for Holocaust Studies

The Gandel Holocaust Studies Program for Australian Educators


Proudly Supported by:
Gandel Philanthropy

Pedagogical Projects

  • Richard Leo
    Richard Leo B.A., Dip. Ed., M.A. (History) has worked in various education systems across Tasmania, South Australia, and Queensland for the past 15 years and is currently Head of Humanities at Nambour Christian College on the Sunshine Coast. He teaches History, Geography, and Study of Religion to ‘little-uns’ and lectures to trainee teacher ‘big-uns’ in World and Australian History at Christian Heritage College in Brisbane. What spare time that is left after socializing with his beautiful wife, Janina and four children, is spent playing guitar, reading and drinking coffee on his verandah overlooking the Sunshine Coast rainforest.
    To view Richard Leo's project, click here.
  • Benny Kaplinski
    Benny Kaplinski, a son of Holocaust survivors, was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1954. Educated at Herzlia Jewish Day School, and holding a BA degree in Hebrew and history from the University of Cape Town, Benny and his wife immigrated to Australia in 1981. Benny completed a Masters degree in Education at the University of New South Wales in 1988 and has taught in both Jewish and public school education for over 30 years. He is currently teaching History at Randwick Girls High School and is also a senior History examiner for the NSW Board of Studies. He also serves as cantor of North Shore Temple Emanuel in Sydney. He was most recently involved in the production of an episode of the BBC television series, "Who Do You Think You Are?" in which he appeared alongside his cousin, Natasha Kaplinsky, a renowned television newsreader in London. Together, Benny and Natasha visited Belarus and retraced the fates of their paternal ancestors during the Holocaust of whom Benny`s father (and mother), rescued by the Bielski Brothers Partisan Brigade, was the only survivor. Benny and his wife Karen have two children, Daniel aged 15 and Amy aged 10.
    To view Benny Kaplinski's project, click here.
  • John Kennedy
    John Kennedy holds a Master of Education as well as a graduate certificate of education law. While he taught for nearly two decades, he currently works at the Diocesan Catholic Education Office in Rockhampton, on special projects.
  • Bridget Punch
    Bridget Punch has taught at John Paul College since 1991 and still looks forward to the challenges and rewards each day brings. A high school teacher, Bridget focuses on teaching history, including the Israel-Palestinian conflict as well as the Holocaust and tolerance.
  • Jackie Black
    Jackie Black is the Head of Visual Arts at Emanuel School in Randwick, Sydney. She has been at Emanuel since the beginning of 2004 and a Visual Arts educator for 26 years. She has been positively impacted both by a 2-week seminar at Yad Vashem and by her participation in March of the Living, increasing her desire to continue studying the Holocaust.
    To view Jackie Black's project, click here.
  • David de Groot
    David de Groot is a history teacher from Strathalbyn Christian College in Geraldton Western Australia. He is passionate about history and has a strong affiliation and interest in Israel and the Jewish people because his family hid a number of Jewish people in occupied Holland during the Second World War.
  • Sharon Bailey
    Sharon Bailey has spent fourteen years in the classroom. She has taught in primary schools as well as in juvenile justice schools in Australia and is passionate about education and creating the best learning environment for students.
  • Panayiotis Diamadis
    Sydney-born Dr. Panayiotis Diamadis is married with one daughter. He currently serves as a senior history teacher at St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney, a lecturer in Genocide Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney, and a tutor at the Workers’ Education Association Sydney, as well as a director of the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. An active researcher, he has developed a public history exhibition on the experiences of Australian prisoners-of-war in the Ottoman Empire during World War I titled “Beyond ANZAC Cove,” as well as a number of publications. He holds a number of qualifications from the University of Sydney, and his doctoral thesis dealt with the Hellenic experience of genocide between 1914 and 1924.
    To view Panayiotis Diamadis's project, click here.
  • Bill Anderson
    Dr. Bill Anderson was born in Scotland and was a social worker in Glasgow before migrating to Australia in 1976. Bill has lectured on the Holocaust at Deakin and Monash Universities and lectured on Scottish and Irish History at the University of Melbourne. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow (History) at the University of Melbourne and is writing a chapter on Holocaust education for a forthcoming history of the Jewish Holocaust Museum in Melbourne and the historical chapters in a book called 'Songs they Sang: Yiddish Songs of the Holocaust'. Bill is Historical Consultant and Educator at the Jewish Holocaust Museum in Melbourne. He was educator on the 2005 Australian adult March of the Living to Poland and Israel and leader on the 2006 March. In November 2009 the Jewish Community Council of Victoria gave him a Community Recognition Award for good attendance.
    To view Bill Anderson's project, click here.
  • Michelle James
    Michelle James holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in teaching geography and history, and is currently teaching those subjects to high school students, in addition to being an advisor, a mentor, and a sports coach. She is committed to teaching the subject of the Holocaust in her classroom and continues to look for new ways to engage students of different backgrounds.
    To view Michelle James's project, click here.
  • Heather de Blasio
    Heather De Blasio has been a high school teacher for nearly 25 years. For the last five years she has been employed as Head of Social and Cultural Studies at Wilderness School, an Independent non-denominational girls’ school just outside the CBD of Adelaide, South Australia. There she teaches Year 8-12 History. Prior to this she was Head of English at Westminster School and Annesley College, and also taught at University Senior College and St George College. Interested in most historical periods and regions, Heather has a particular fascination with twentieth century History.
    To view Heather de Blasio's project, click here.
  • Sandra Robertson
    Sandra Robertson has been a teacher in Queensland schools for over 20 years. In that time she has taught in a number of faculties including history, geography, and English. She holds a Bachelor of Education and has not only served as a classroom teacher, but also as an administrator, department head, and career advisor. She is currently involved in resourcing and developing unites for junior and senior students on the Holocaust.
    To view Sandra Robertson's project, click here.
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