The Emily Ullman
2004 Outstanding Educator Award

RENEE KAPLAN is a teacher at Marbry Middle School in Marietta, Georgia, who has dedicated much of her time to the advancement of multiculturalism. Through her many programs and activities, Ms. Kaplan has endeavored to instill in her students the importance of valuing human rights. One such activity is her involvement in a statewide writing contest entitled “What are the lessons of the Holocaust?” Ms. Kaplan’s students have won the first prize three years in a row. Indeed, over seventy percent of the teachers who enter the work of their students into the contest have taken multicultural literacy courses taught by Ms. Kaplan. Ms. Kaplan’s students have produced movies which deal with racism and prejudice; Ms. Kaplan herself has designed a one-hour video which gives teachers many ideas on how to teach human relations, diversity, and the Holocaust. Says Sylvia Wygoda, Director of the Georgia State Commission on the Holocaust, “She has made priceless and unselfish contributions to fellow educators throughout the state and nation.”