Ashburton College teacher Greta Hampton, preparing to spend her summer holidays studying the Holocaust at the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Photo Sue NewmanWhen an opportunity comes along to chase a dream, you have to grab it with both hands, says Greta Hampton.

The Ashburton College social science and history teacher will shortly be winging her way to Israel where she will spend three weeks as part of a group study programme on the Holocaust and its impact on the modern world.

She’s been fascinated by that dark period in modern history for many years and this year introduced the Holocaust into her Year 11 history programme.

“She believes that history cannot be a subject that is seen as something unrelated to students’ lives, instead it must also be relevant and be something they can understand in context of their own lives.

To add the personal touch to their Holocaust studies, she brought several second generation holocaust survivors to school to talk to students.

Largely it’s a topic for Year 11, but this year she’s hoping to introduce an element of the Holocaust into her programme for Year 9.

She hopes the three-week study course in Jerusalem will provide her with new skills she can use to teach the topic.

“History always needs to be taught in a way that’s meaningful, it’s just not about the facts and figures, it’s about the people and the stories about the people.

The Jews refused to give up and that’s important to understand.

“For me it’s a privilege to be able to teach this,” she said.

Greta gained her place on the study programme through the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand.

She is one of 27 Kiwi teachers who will be part of the programme, chosen from 180 who applied for a place.

While there might be a few opportunities to be a tourist, she knows the days will be long, with many lectures as well as visits to some of the most important sites, such as Schindler’s Grave and the Holocaust Museum.

“I know this will be life-changing personally and professionally.

“I’ll be coming back with knowledge I can pass on to my students, knowledge that’s so important and knowledge that’s still relevant today,” she said.

Greta has been interested in the Holocaust since she was young.

Teaching saw that passion grow and having her own children saw it ignite.

“It’s about the people, the children and what they went through, I want my children to grow up in a world without prejudice,” she said.

She is no stranger to overseas study programmes, having travelled to Korea in 2016 through the Asia Foundation New Zealand to study the culture and history of the country.

While she’s the one who’ll be studying over summer, Greta said the knowledge she gains will be of huge benefit to her students.

In addition, she said it was good for students to see their teachers taking opportunities to extend their own learning.

“I’m passionate about lifelong learning and about being the best teacher I can be.”

She wants to be a changemaker in the lives of her students.

“If I can inspire one person to learn a bit more about the Holocaust then I’m doing something right.”

She’s been a member of the college’s staff for 10 years and said she is always looking for opportunities to improve her knowledge and upskill as a teacher.

“I’m trying to build the history programmes to include topics that are enjoyable, relevant and meaningful for the kids and the Holocaust definitely fits that brief.”

Winning a place on the study trip saw Greta sign on for hours of background reading.

“Some of that is pretty heavy but I’m also watching a lot of films and documentaries based around the Holocaust.

“I want to be in a position to get the best out of this as I can.”

By Sue Newman © The Ashburton Guardian - 7 January 2019