Holocaust Commission Names Gordon Mathis Distinguished Educator

Congratulations to Gordon Mathis on being named the 2020 recipient of the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust Distinguished Educator Award! Because of Covid, he was not able to be recognized until just last week when Lisa Olens, commission member, presented him the award at the Georgia State Capitol.

“This award is presented to educators who exemplify excellence and creativity in the development and presentation of lessons or activities which focus on the Holocaust, human rights, civil rights or character development,” according to the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust website.

"Over the last few years, I have taught students several lessons about the Holocaust. For Middle Learning students, we have gone to the Anne Frank Museum in Sandy Springs and even taken an all-day field trip to Whitwell, Tennessee, the site of the school in the documentary Paper Clips. There is a genuine train car that was used as transport to an extermination camp, which serves as a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.  For Upper Learning, some seniors take an elective in European History. We read an essay about the Dreyfus Affair, to learn that Anti-Semitism is a European-wide phenomenon, not just an issue for German history. Students in that class read Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, about his survival of Auschwitz. Before Covid, seniors went to the Breman Museum, where they met a Holocaust survivor. As a history teacher, I want Galloway students to learn as much as they can about the Holocaust before the members of the generation that were eye-witnesses are gone."

Congratulations, Mr. Mathis! We think anyone who has had you as a teacher can say this is beyond well-deserved.