This is part of a series of
2025 National Lowell Milken Center Fellows.
FORT SCOTT, KS – June 1, 2025 – The Lowell Milken Center (LMC) for Unsung Heroes in Fort Scott, Kansas, an international educational non-profit, has awarded its prestigious Fellowship to Jennifer Barletto Klein, a high school social studies teacher at Weston High School in Weston, CT. Jennifer will arrive in Fort Scott on June 22nd for a week of collaboration with LMC staff and the other members of the Fellowship.
The LMC Fellowship is a merit-based award for educators of all disciplines who value the importance of teaching respect and understanding through project-based learning. The Center selects exemplary teachers from the United States and around the world who will collaborate on projects that discover, develop, and communicate the stories of Unsung Heroes in history.
Jennifer Barletto Klein, a social studies teacher at Weston High School in Weston, CT, received international recognition from Yad Vashem in 2023 and was selected as a 2024 Auschwitz-Birkenau Fellow. She strives to cultivate a reflective classroom environment, encouraging students to participate in open discussions and develop critical thinking skills. She teaches both in a traditional classroom setting, including at the AP level, and in an alternative educational program that provides students with smaller class sizes and a more supportive environment. She is an advisor to the Jewish Student Union and has been involved in programming to combat antisemitism and hate.
In recent years, Jennifer has been particularly engaged in Holocaust education and participated in a Holocaust education program with Echoes and Reflections at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and traveled to Warsaw, Krakow, and Auschwitz-Birkenau as part of her fellowship. Her semester-long course, Facing History and Ourselves, which examines the Holocaust through a sociological lens, has been deeply enriched by her scholarly pursuits and international experiences.
LMC Executive Director Norm Conard says, “Jennifer is a trailblazer in Holocaust Education, receiving national recognition by Yad Vashem. Her passion for engaging students with history and its impact on current times ties in with the mission of the Lowell Milken Center. Jennifer will be a great resource for our Fellows seeking to help students create connections between unsung heroes from the past and their own roles in the world today.”
While in Fort Scott, LMC Fellows gain knowledge, educational resources, and support in helping students cultivate a passion for learning by creating projects that initiate positive change. Fellows will be equipped to develop Unsung Heroes projects with their students, applying and evaluating the stories of these role models who have changed the world throughout history.