Advisory Commission

Craig R. Coenen, Ph.D.
Interim Director
coenenc@mccc.edu

Craig was appointed interim director on July 1, 2026. He previously served as director from spring 2015 through fall 2019. After earning his Ph.D. in American history from Lehigh University in 2001, Mercer County Community College hired him as a professor in December 2002. Craig teaches all sorts of history classes at Mercer including the Holocaust and Other Genocides. In 2005, the University of Tennessee Press published Craig’s book, From Sandlots to the Super Bowl: The National Football League, 1920-1967. In addition, he has written articles, co-edited books, and given talks on topics such as James Bond, presidential elections, and the Holocaust as exhibited in Polish museums. He has led four Mercer study abroad trips to Poland to study the Holocaust and has been to Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic many other times to study World War II sites, including week-long seminars at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 2019 and 2022.

Lynne Azarchi
Kidsbridge
lynnekidsbridge@aol.com

Founder and Executive Director of the Kidsbridge Youth Center-- an immersive ‘small group discussion’ learning lab for youth and teachers each year, Lynne has spent the last 20 years creating programs and interactive experiences for more than 30,000 children dealing with bullying prevention, empathy, empowerment, respect and anti-bias, anti-racism.  Her book “The Empathy Advantage: Coaching Children to be Kind, Respectful and Successful” was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2020 and is now available in paperback.

Toby Adler
tobytga@aol.com

Toby Adler is an accomplished elementary classroom and reading teacher. He has taught in three different states, which has broadened his horizons and made him a better educator. Adler has always been interested in the history behind the Holocaust and cruelty in the world. Since retiring, his mission is to give back through the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Center.

Cheryl Beal

The Hun School, English

cherylbeal@hunschool.org

Cheryl Beal holds an M.A. in Holocaust & Genocide Studies from Gratz College and completed her thesis, “The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s ‘Americans and the Holocaust’ Exhibition: The Exhibition’s Balanced Handling of America’s Responses to the Holocaust.” A lawyer by training, she has taught English at the prestigious Hun School of Princeton since 2002. From 2015 to the present, Beal has been teaching Holocaust Literature to Hun School seniors. She attended the Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Teachers’ Program’s Trip to Germany and Poland in the Summer of 2015. She also participated in the Belfer Conference for Educators at U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016. In 2018, she attended the Advanced Teachers’ Workshop and International Holocaust Convention at Yad Vashem, Israel, where she fulfilled an independent study project in which she compared Yad Vashem and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s treatment of the Holocaust. Finally, Beal’s goal is to dedicate as much time as possible to educating about the Holocaust and other genocides, as well as effectuating outreach to other educators, who can benefit from multi-faceted and inspiring Holocaust resources.

Lauren Cohen

Lauren Cohen is the granddaughter of two Holocaust survivors. She has always been interested in learning the history of the Holocaust, and is passionate about sharing her grandparents' stories. In 2015, Lauren attended the Summer Seminar organized by the NJ Holocaust Commission and the NJEA to visit the infamous sites of the Holocaust.

Rev. John R. Norwood, Ph.D.
Nanticoke/Lenni Lenape
pastornorwood@comcast.net

Dr. J. R. Norwood, is the pastor of the Ujima Village Christian Church, the Director of the Christian Mission School of Theology, and a former councilman and judge of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation.

Sharon Taksler
sharay518@gmail.com

Taksler is a retired special education teacher with an interest in Holocaust studies and human rights education.