Testimonials

“Extremely professional. Very throrough. Inspiring. I feel very fortunate to be a part of the seminar.” —Cecilia Escobar
 
“This VOC seminar experience has been an inspirational call to action for me as an educator. Informative beyond words and completely intellectually stimulating beyond my wildest imagination is the best way I can describe this amazing seminar. I now am better armed than ever to combat communism in my classroom and the world. Thank you so much!” —Martha Whittaker
 
“The best Summer Seminar pertaining to the ideological differences of the Cold War and motivation towards the continuous struggle for the preservation of liberty.” —Hector Gonzalez
 
“This seminar was life-changing for me. I gained so much knowledge and understanding from these three days. I wish I had this years ago as it will make me a better teacher (and maybe a better human). It was so great to be lectured by the editor and author of two of the books. That is very powerful. The keynote speaker was THE BEST. Watching the victim testimonials was powerful but actually meeting him in person affected me so much more. Thank you so much for putting on this seminar and accepting me in it.”  —Andrea Heck

“The VOC seminar was very informative and interesting. I can use virtually everything we covered in this seminar with my students in some way. The balance of content and pedagogy was excellent. Please keep supporting this program and adding to the Witness Project. The personal stories from the Witness Project are so powerful and I believe my students will really be moved by these amazing, heroic, REAL-LIFE stories. Thank you for this opportunity!”   —Diane Van Wyk

“The Summer Seminars increased my content understanding and confidence in teaching events related to communism. I walked away with practical strategies to use in my classroom and the ability to differentiate these lessons for my student population.”  —Kenneth Trotman

“Before coming to VOC teacher seminar I only knew the basics of communism and felt ill-equipped to teach those topics in depth. Now, I feel as if I am armed with the tools needed to teach the ideology and history in depth. I can’t wait to enact these innovative lessons in my own classrooms and to increase my students’ understanding of communism.”  —Elizabeth Rasmussen
 
“If you need to be reminded why teaching history is important, this seminar will remind you. It will inspire you to get back to your classroom to remind your students how precious our freedoms are and the obligation all citizens how in never taking these freedoms for granted.”  —Tom O’Hare

“The VOC Summer Seminar was a fantastic experience. The holistic discussion of communism and its legacy really touched me. Too often the Cold War is discussed in terms of political agendas and power politics. This seminar brought out the human element of this history, one that is so important to share with students today. At the same time the readings and professors provided a level of intellectual rigor and philosophic/historical discussion that I, a current graduate student, felt enriched by and learned a great deal.”  —Christine Nussio

“The care shown in balancing discussion of ideology with the application of the curriculum materials makes a huge difference in allowing me to take these resources and make them relevant in my classroom.”  —Mike Lutz

“This seminar has been excellent! Not only do we deal with the past, but we also deal with the current communist situation. Truly a rewarding experience that has changed my perceptions and how I will teach communist issues to my students.”  —Julia Warren
 
“This is an excellent learning experience for teachers to better understand the ideas, history, and legacy of communism. I feel confident in teaching on the topic, and my students will be more engaged because of the strategies and activities I learned at the seminar.” —Karen Rosa
 
“This is one of the most important things I have participated in as an educator; not one bit of the witness or lecture information was wasted- it will all be used in my class next year.” —Driana Kadlecek