Programs for Jewish Educators READ MORE!
”I realize what an honor it is to be a teacher, especially a Hebrew teacher. I understand the important role we play in the lives or our students and how in many cases, we are the main source of their Jewish upbringing. This role cannot and should not be taken lightly.”
Lauren Goldman, Swampscott

Teachers to Israel (T2I), February 2009

Informational Session, September 10

Learn about T2I, a fully subsidized trip to Israel for Jewish educators who have not been to Israel, at an informational session at Temple Ner Tamid, 368 Lowell St., Peabody, September 10 at 7:30 p.m.

T2I is for Jewish educators who teach in any of the Jewish schools in the Foundation service area are invited to apply. Priority is given to those educators who also live in the service area. The trip will take place from February 12-22, 2009. There are a limited number of spaces.

For more information, please contact Deborah Coltin, Executive Director, at 978-740-4428 or email dcoltin@rilcf.org.

T2I Matching Grants Available

Due to the successes of three fully subsidized tripsT2I trips to Israel for preschool and religious school Jewish educators, and the recent success of a national grant program to seven communities, the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation is pleased to announce that it is once again offering Teachers to Israel (T2I) in 2009, a matching grant program to communities for fully subsidized trips to Israel for Jewish educators who have never been.

Central agencies are invited to apply for a matching grant, up to $1,850 per teacher, to provide fully subsidized trips to Israel for Jewish educators in their communities who have never been to Israel. The cost of the trip should not exceed $3,600 per person.

Oranim Educational Initiatives, our Israel partner, is the tour provider for the program. Oranim has experience providing outstanding teachers’ trips to Israel, and I encourage you to visit their website at www.jewishadventures.com/T2I where you can view the itinerary, pictures and highlights of the teachers’ trip that took place this year. The application deadline is May 15, 2008 and notification of selections will be made by June 2, 2008.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Deborah Coltin, Executive Director, at 978-740-4428 or email dcoltin@rilcf.org.

Teachers to Israel, February 2008

When Barbara Steinberg’s daughter Rebecca called home last summer from Israel for the first time, she barely said hello. Rebecca was travelling on the free Robert I. Lappin Youth to Israel Adventure.

“Her first words were ‘you should be here’ and I realized that I was ready to go,” said Steinberg, of Danvers

“Now I tell my students that they are so lucky I am going on this trip and they are excited for me,” said Steinberg, who teaches three and four-year-olds at Temple Beth Shalom preschool and Hebrew school in Peabody.

Steinberg is one of 16 teachers departing in February on the third Teachers to Israel (T2I), a free trip provided by the Robert I. Lappin 1992 Supporting Foundation, designed to help Jewish educators bring passion for Israel back to their classrooms READ MORE!

Teachers to Israel Goes National, Funding for 100 Teachers in Seven Communities READ MORE!

Teachers Form Bonds with Israel, Each Other READ MORE!

Return from “Home”READ MORE!

Early Childhood Institute
“It inspired me to delve into Torah study with younger kids and adapt it to their level. And, I adapt teaching methods to the individual learning styles of my students. It brought me a wealth of knowledge.”
Cindy Rosenberg, Marblehead

Register for Early Childhood Insititute

Jewish educators are invited to be part of the Early Childhood Institute’s “Enriching the Early Childhood Jewish Curriculum Using Children’s Literature,” a free class made possible by a grant from the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation which sponsors programs that are helping to keep our children Jewish.

The class is offered by Hebrew College at Cohen Hillel Academy in Marblehead and will meet over five Wednesdays, beginning February 27.

The course, to be taught by Barbara Weinstock of Cohen Hillel and Hebrew College, draws upon resources of the PJ Library as well as other literature. It will demonstrate how to use books to teach Jewish values and holidays, and to increase Jewish identity within the classroom and beyond. Topics include characteristics of good children’s literature, story presentation and how to create hands-on, Jewish themed activities to supplement the books.

Educators will receive college credit from Hebrew College. This course, valued at $285 per person, is free for early childhood educators who live in the Foundation service area. For more information, please call Andrea Katz, Lappin Foundation program manager, 978-740-4404 or email akatz@rilcf.org.

Teachers Learning to Add Hebrew to Early Childhood Classroom
When Lynne Greenberg reads “Brown Bear,” by Eric Carle to her class of three-year-olds at Congregation Shirat Hayam Preschool, she makes one change: she replaces all the colors words with Hebrew.

The subtle change is the direct result of her recent continuing education class, “Hebrew in the Early Childhood Curriculum,” made possible by a grant from the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation which sponsors programs that are helping to keep our children Jewish and offered by Hebrew College at Cohen Hillel Academy in Marblehead.

“We come home from that class with so many usable ideas,” said Greenberg, who has received an enthusiastic reception from her young students.

Dawn Sudenfield is using similar lessons with third-graders at Temple Beth Shalom Hebrew School in Peabody, but she is focusing on reading and writing of Hebrew words as well. Sudenfield, who is also Beth Shalom’s preschool director, recently switched from teaching first to third grade and was looking for new strategies.

“My students are so happy with this material. We reinforce the speaking with reading and writing,” said Sudenfield. “I made a color book for them and I had to go home and double it with other Hebrew words.”

The focus of this year’s Early Childhood Institute taught by Suzie Cheatham of Cohen Hillel Academy and Hebrew College is to integrate simple Hebrew words, phrases, songs and routines into the daily early childhood classroom. It is designed to build on the program offered last year, “Israel in the Early Childhood Classroom.” Many alumni of that class said they started incorporating Israel into the day- to-day classroom routines by singing Hatikvah, labeling things in Hebrew and using other ideas they learned.

The course is designed to give teachers ideas they can bring directly to the classroom so they work on projects together. For example, they recently made a snowman book that labels all the clothing and body parts in Hebrew with activities for each page depending on the level of the child.

"This course makes Hebrew come alive as a modern language for even the youngest of our children. Children have fun learning another language and they feel proud. Teaching the children Hebrew develops an even stronger connection to their Judaism and to Israel," said Debbie Coltin, Lappin Foundation executive director.

“This is a wonderful group and they are all so eager to learn from each other,” said Cheatham.

Ultimately, the teachers will acquire knowledge specific to them as adult learners, vocabulary they can use passively in the classroom and active vocabulary to teach children to learn and use, according to Cheatham.

Inspirational Jewish Teaching - 2008
Acquiring a JEWEL - Jewish Educator's Library

Great ideas fuel inspiration. Attend Inspirational Jewish Teaching and you will receive a free, fabulous resource book, chock full of ideas, every month.

Classes will focus on professional growth and development as a Jewish educator and ways to use the book of the month to enrich and enliven your classes and engage, and inspire your students.

All classes, except the first, will be held on Wednesday evenings, eginning at 7 p.m.

• October 29, 2008, Woodbridge Assisted Living, 240 Lynnfield St., Peabody, 6:30 p.m., dinner will be served
• November 19, 2008 JCC, 4 Community Road, Marblehead
• December 17, 2008, JCC, 4 Community Road, Marblehead
• January 21, 2009, Chabad of Peabody, 83 Pine St., Unit E, Peabody
• February 25, 2009, 4 Community Road, Marblehead
• March 18, 2009, Woodbridge Assisted Living, 240 Lynnfield St., Peabody

The goal of Inspirational Jewish Teaching is to inspire our religious school teachers to create exciting places of Jewish learning so that children will be excited to learn the beauty and richness of our Jewish heritage.

At a cost of $150 per teacher to the Foundation, Inspirational Jewish Teaching is free and open to educators who teach or live in the Foundation service area.

For more information or to register, call Phyllis Osher, Program Manager, 978-740-4410 or email posher@rilcf.org.

Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education
“I am so encouraged to learn and to be respected for learning in this environment. I find a huge support system in this community.”
- Gayle Solomon, Swampscott

Do you know a teacher of excellence, who inspires our children and works to help keep them Jewish? Please consider nominating him or her for the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards for Excellence in Jewish Education.

Presented in Jewish communities across North America, the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards are designed to recognize, honor and support outstanding Jewish educators in day schools and other formal Jewish educational settings on a local and national level.

To be eligible for the Grinspoon-Steinhardt award, a Jewish educator must:
• Demonstrate a commitment to our mission of helping to keep our children Jewish
• Demonstrate exceptional achievement in Jewish education
• Have made a significant impact on students and the community
• Have a minimum of three years experience in the field
• Teach at least six hours per week in a Jewish day school, religious school or preschool (teachers can fulfill the requirement in more than one institution)

2007 Grinspoon-Steinhardt award winners receive:
• $1000 cash prize, which is sponsored by the Jewish Continuity Committee of the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation.
• $1,500 professional development stipend OR a free trip to Israel to participate in Kivunim, a two-week Israel Experience Program for Education made possible by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and the Jewish Life Network.
• An all-expenses paid invitation to attend the JESNA National Awards Ceremony and Seminar

In 2006 there were 59 Grinspoon-Steinhardt award winners from across North America. Past award recipients from our community include:

2005: Heather Greenberg
2004: Marla Mindel and Gayle Solomon
2003: Rachel Jacobson
2001: Lynn Rubenstein
2000: Deborah Coltin

Please visit www.grinspoonsteinhardt.org to download a nomination form or call Andrea Katz at 978-740-4404 for more information. Nomination forms must be emailed to Andrea Katz, akatz@rilcf.org no later than May 1, 2008.

Subsidies for Professional Development
“The more we help educators become better at our jobs, the more we show that we value them and the better they can teach our children. The benefit of educating Jewish professionals provides value to an entire community far beyond the cost.”
- Marian Gorman

Jewish educators may apply for a subsidy of up to 50 percent for participation in any approved course of professional development in the area of Jewish education. To apply for a subsidy, call Deborah Coltin at 978-740-4428 or email dcoltin@rilcf.org.

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