Dear Friends,
Thank you for your interest in the 2026 Centropa Summer Academy (CSA), which will take place in Vienna, Prague, and Terezin, 2-10 July; details at https://www.centropa.org/en/csa2026. Twenty US educators will join 45 teachers from 15 countries. (Note: the program will begin on July 2 and end July 9; participants will leave on July 10.)
Europeans and Israelis: DO NOT APPLY HERE. Your applications will be available in March.
We welcome applications from US middle/high school teachers, county/district education/school administrators, & museum/Holocaust organization educators. Preference will go to those who have used Centropa creatively and show that Centropa will be a key resource in their work.
Trip cost details:
- Public school educators: through grants, we will cover air fare and most ground costs, including hotel (shared room). We appreciate any funding you might be able to contribute.
We have scholarships for two public school teachers who assign the Milton Wolf Prize in Student Advocacy. See below or click on this link for more information: centropawolfprize.org.
- Private school & university, museum, and organization educators must cover the entire cost of the trip.
ALL participants must pay a $200 registration fee, including those receiving grants from one of our funders.
ALL participants, including those whose trips are paid by grants, must purchase travel/medical insurance, cover rides to/from airports, and pay for meals on free evenings.
RECOMMENDATION: as you fill out this application, save your answers in Word in case they do not save properly.
The deadline for completing US applications is Friday, March 13. We will interview finalists via Zoom, and make final decisions late March/early April.
Questions? Contact Lauren Granite, granite@centropa.org
Warmly,
Lauren Granite, Ph.D.
Director, US Programs
Centropa
4.
COMPLETE Address (Street name and number, apartment number if relevant, city, state, zip code) If you will receive a reimbursement from us, we will send it to this address. *
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How would you define your role as an educator? Choose the one that describes your primary role. *
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What subject(s) do you teach or supervise? *
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We'd like to learn about your school, district, or organization and the students or population you serve. If the question doesn't apply to you, simply enter "N/A." *
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Paint us a picture of what you do professionally, using the following questions as guidelines:
CLASSROOM TEACHERS: what grades/classes do you teach? How many students?
ADMINISTRATORS, MUSEUM EDUCATORS: briefly describe your role and the educational programs you run. *
14.
Please answer according to your role:
TEACHERS: What is the most important thing you teach your students? Why? How do you teach it?
ADMINISTRATORS, MUSEUM EDUCATORS: What is the most important thing you want to support and teach your teachers to teach? Why? How do you do that? *
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What challenges have you faced in teaching about the Holocaust? *
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Describe a lesson or program you designed that you are most proud of, and tell us why you like it. You can adapt this question to your work (meaning: if you are an administrator, please share with us a learning experience you designed for your staff, faculty, or whoever). *
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What do you think Centropa can offer you that other organizations can't? *
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If you are accepted, you will need to be comfortable spending time and connecting with teachers from other cultures. Describe an experience that illustrates your curiosity about others, and your interest in and ability to successfully work with people from other cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. *
19.
Have you used Centropa before? If so, please briefly tell us which resources you used, which class you used them in, and about your lesson or project.
If not, please show us that you understand what we offer educators by doing the following:
a) Go to the interviews at www.centropa.org and choose a country.
b) Select a family name from the biographies, read the interview, and look at the photos from that family. Briefly tell us how you would use these materials - or other stories - with students.
c) Please watch one film from our film page (https://www.centropa.org/en/films/by-region), and tell us how you might use it in class.
If you run out of space, please email your answer to Lauren at granite@centropa.org, with the subject heading: CSA Application, your last name, first name. *
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Including air fare, ground costs, and administrative and staff costs, we estimate that the total cost of the trip will be $5,500. We try to raise the funds for as many public school teachers as possible. However, we are a small non-profit and money is often tight, so we ask CSA applicants to look for any school, county, state, or local funding you might apply for to help support the cost of your trip.
Tell us here if there is any amount you think you might be able to cover towards the cost of your flights or ground expenses IN ADDITION to the following costs every participant is expected to cover: $200 registration fee, travel/medical insurance, rides to/from airports, and meals on free evenings). *
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The Milton Wolf Prize in Student Advocacy. We have TWO scholarships to attend the 2026 Centropa Summer Academy for public school teachers who assign The Milton Wolf Prize in Student Advocacy, a civics competition for students in grades 6-12. (Students can also submit projects independently, or via clubs or youth groups.)
Students love this project because they learn about their communities and discover or get to learn more about social issues they are passionate about. And there are cash prizes: 5 winning projects receive $400, and 5 runner-up projects receive $250.
The due date for the project this year is April 17, 11:59pm.
If you are interested in this grant to the 2026 Summer Academy, please visit the Milton Wolf Prize website (www.centropawolfprize.org), review the details (especially on the FAQ page), and indicate below if you would like to apply for this scholarship. We will follow up with you, and you can also email Lauren Granite at granite@centropa.org. *
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As a non-profit with a small staff, Centropa relies on our community of educators to expand our educational network and resources. For this reason, we ask you to read the following and acknowledge that, if you are accepted to the 2026 Centropa Summer Academy, by filling out this application you agree to partnering with us in the following ways:
- use Centropa's resources in your classroom or school district in the coming school year; if you use any lesson plans or projects from our website in your classes, you will let us know what you used, how you used them, and the students' responses;
- share your lesson, projects, or programs with Centropa at no charge;
- fill out a survey after the Summer Academy, another follow-up survey after six months, and any subsequent surveys we send. We will use your comments in our reporting to donors.
- introduce Centropa to your colleagues;
- you give us permission to use photographs we take of you for our PR materials and reports to the supporting foundations;
- if you publish exhibitions, websites, theater productions, or anything else that has been generated by your participation in our programs, you agree to use our name and logo (which we will send you upon request);
- if you contact any speaker you have met through Centropa you will inform us.
Please indicate your acceptance of these terms by clicking below. *
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By applying to the Centropa Summer Academy, you agree that your personal details given above will be shared and processed by Centropa according to our Privacy Policy (http://www.centropa.org/centropa-privacy-policy). *
Thank you for applying to the 2026 CSA, in Vienna, Prague, and Terezin, 2-10 July.
The deadline for US applications Is Friday, March 13, 2026, 9:00am EST. Applications for European and Israeli teachers are separate and will be available in March.
We look forward to reading your application. In the meantime, should you have questions please do not hesitate to contact me at granite@centropa.org.
Best,
Lauren Granite, Ph.D.
Director
US Programs