Maryellen elia biography of michael jordan

Commissioner MaryEllen Elia

Commissioner MaryEllen Elia talks at a Thursday Morning Roundtable at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, Thursday March 30, 2017.

(Michael Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - New York Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said she sees how an assignment asking students to argue in support of the Holocaust could prompt critical thinking.

A teacher in Oswego County CiTi / BOCES New Vision program earlier this year asked students to put themselves in a Nazi leaders' shoes and argue for or against the "Final Solution" to exterminate Jewish people.

Elia responded to the assignment after she spoke this morning at a round-table at Syracuse's Rosamond Gifford Zoo. She gave her speech around the same time Syracuse.com published an article about students who were upset with the assignment.

Elia was not aware of the assignment given locally, but said the critical thinking that stems from this type of essay could be good for students.

"I think it's certainly a question where you want students to think on both sides and analyze ... which position a person is taking," Elia said. "That idea of being able to identify the perspective an article has or a writer has is a very important skill."

Elia, who taught social studies near Buffalo for several years, said she would judge the appropriateness of the assignment based on the age of the students in the class, the material and background information leading up to the assignment, and how the assignment was presented in the class.

"Those factors would influence the appropriateness or not," she said. "The concept of having students identify a particular position is pretty critical, whether they can analyze a position, and then decide whether to agree or not."

The assignment in this case was given to high school seniors in a "Principles of Literary Re

The State Education Department today named the second class of My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Fellows who have been identified as leaders in their MBK communities and who will be provided with mentor relationship opportunities in government, education and business, Commissioner MaryEllen Elia announced. The 67 Fellows, all high school juniors, represent 22 New York State school districts who attended the Third New York State MBK Statewide Symposium held in Albany today with their mentors.

“We are committed to making sure that the voices of our children are part of the education conversation and by embracing My Brother’s Keeper, communities across the state are creating unique opportunities for boys and young men of color,” Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa said. “With the MBK movement’s continued growth, we are showing more students the path to success in life, amplifying their voices and helping them to realize their full potential.”

“I am excited to see how we are building on the MBK Fellows program, more than doubling the number of Fellows in this year’s class and providing valuable leadership resources for boys and young men of color,” Commissioner Elia said. “Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie made the Fellows program possible by championing MBK and working with the Legislature and the Executive to secure funding to support boys and young men of color. We thank Speaker Heastie and his colleagues for their continued support of MBK.”

"The mission of My Brother’s Keeper is empowering, inspiring and encouraging our young people to think about how they initiate change in their community, their city and our country,” Regent Lester W. Young said. “MBK Fellows are an integral part of that larger movement, and they are called on to ensure that the next generation of New York State leaders are well prepared for civic duty and commitment to social justice values. These future leaders ar

Jordan April and Archer Shurtliff are high school students in Oswego, NY who took a brave stand against injustice despite the stunning moral failure of the adults tasked with educating them.

On February 15, 2017, Oswego County High School teacher Michael DeNobile gave his students an assignment he’s been giving for several years. He divided the class into two parts. One group of teens was assigned to oppose the Nazi genocide of the Jews, the other group was told to advocate for it.

The students assigned to defend the Holocaust were expected to back up their work with sources from Nazi propaganda and modern-day Internet hate sites.

Nobody had ever complained about the assignment before, but Jordan and Archer – neither of whom is Jewish – were deeply offended by the idea of making students justify the genocide of the Jews.

They complained to their teacher, Michael DeNobile, who brusquely dismissed their concerns and insisted they complete the assignment. Archer was supposed to argue for the Holocaust, and Jordan was supposed to argue against.

After DeNobile refused to retract the assignment, the kids approached other educators in their school, who also shut down their concerns.

Jordan and Archer took their complaint all the way to the NY State Commissioner of Education, MaryEllen Elia, who shockingly defended the assignment and told them the purpose was to “understand all sides of the issue.”

Jordan and Archer, only 15 and 17 years old, refused to let it go. Their strong sense of right and wrong would not allow them to participate in an assignment that reeked of dangerous moral relativism.

They contacted the Anti-Defamation League, where they finally encountered adults with a moral compass. The ADL issued a statement condemning the assignment for suggesting there are two equally valid sides to every issue, including genocide.

Even after the ADL’s strong statement against the assignment, Michael DeNobile and MaryEllen Elia continued to