GGUSD and City of Garden Grove Partner to Offer Community Conversation about Inclusivity

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Garden Grove Unified School District and the City of Garden Grove are partnering with the USC Shoah Foundation to host a community wide forum, “Dialogue in Action Community Conversation” to address productive opportunities to counter hate and foster an inclusive community where all individuals feel welcome and respected. The event will take place on Wednesday, November 6, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Garden Grove Community Meeting Center, 11300 Stanford Avenue.

The community dialogue will provide opportunities to engage in group learning, share experiences with community members, and develop productive ways to counter hate and promote empathy and understanding among the Garden Grove community.

During the event, the USC Shoah Foundation will also offer a special educational session from 7:00 to 7:30 p.m. designed for fourth through sixth grade students. Children will complete an iWitness activity to prompt a discussion about respectful ways to engage with others. Students will practice their empathetic listening skills by watching a short clip of Vera Gissing testimony, a Holocaust survivor who speaks about the kindness of strangers. Students will then write about a time someone was empathetic towards them, discuss the importance of listening with empathy and the role it plays in building community. This 30-minute session will be facilitated by a USC Shoah Foundation educator.

The USC Shoah Foundation, The Institute for Visual History and Education has a mission of developing empathy, understanding, and respect through testimony. The Foundation developed this program based on their work with the audiovisual testimony of survivors of genocide and mass atrocity to put a face to the processes and lasting impact of hate.

Childcare and interpretation will be provided.