Dear Friends,
This month, I’d like to acknowledge the support the Torah School receives from the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.
Four years ago, the Federation began a new grants program called "ICE: Initiatives in Congregational Education." Designed specifically for supplemental schools (as opposed to day schools), ICE provides seed money for new programming. It recognizes that money is tight and that funding for new initiatives is often hard to find within our own budgets.
Grant applications are due in the spring; decisions are made over the summer and the funds are distributed when the Federation receives an enrollment report from the school in the fall. The amount of the grant is dependent on enrollment.
Grants are provided in several categories: Normative Grants, Competitive Partnership Grants, and Discovery Grants. Normative grants fund congregational school programs in the areas of teens, tikkun olam, teacher training, non-formal educational experiences, educational resources and specialists, and family education. Competitive partnership grants are those that benefit more than one congregation. Discovery grants fund congregational-school joint learning programs.
In addition to the paperwork mentioned above, there are several other requirements that the Federation sets forth for participants in the ICE program. Twice a year "Roundtable" discussions are held for Education Directors/Principals and lay leaders. David Silberman and I attended the fall session in October at Congregation Har Shalom. The Federation also requires submission of an evaluative piece upon completion of the program. These evaluations have been gathered in a curriculum bank at the Isaac Franck Library at the Board of Jewish Education (4928 Wyaconda Road in Rockville).
Adat Shalom’s first ICE grant was for the Family Education Program under Moshe Ben-Lev. We piloted Family Education as joint programming for parents and children. Most other congregations at the time were doing "parallel track" programming, with parents and children being separated for the majority of the educational experience. We integrated a multiple intelligences approach to our programming. Families could also choose the order in which to work on activities and the length of time in which to do them in.
We received another ICE grant to begin our Tikkun Olam Program. This was a pilot program designed to move the emphasis from collecting money during class time into a program in which students made informed decisions about where their money should be contributed. They learned about the recipient of the funds and specifically how those funds would be used. Most classes were able to have a guest speaker, video, field trip, or some hands-on learning experience in addition to classroom learning. This program has been entirely coordinated and implemented by parent volunteers at each grade level, under the direction of the Education Board.
Our Madrichim (Teen Aide) Program had its genesis as a Federation-funded ICE grant. Moshe’s dream was to find a new/different way to involve teens in post-b’nai mitzvah learning experiences. He designed a program in which teens can participate by being teacher aides in classrooms on both Shabbat and Wednesday. Funds were used initially to purchase handbooks for madrichim (aides), to pay them, and to provide training during the year to help them hone their skills.
This year, for the first time, we participated in a competitive partnership grant. We were asked to join Temple Emmanuel (Kensington), Ohr Kodesh (Silver Spring), Beth El (Bethesda), and Har Shalom (Potomac) as part of the "Southern Montgomery Coalition" for a teacher education day. A number of the five congregations share teachers among them. The Greater Washington’s BJE (Bd. of Jewish Ed) Professional Day comes in early November. We felt a need to jump-start the school year by providing a chance for teachers to learn together about a variety of topics at the beginning of the year. Workshops were led by principals or ed. directors, with each of us focusing on what we felt our strengths were. SIxty-seven teachers from the above-mentioned congregational schools participated. The evaluations indicate that the program was of benefit to an overwhelming majority.
Our normative grant this year will fund the beginning development of an oral Hebrew language program geared towards primary students in grades Gan through Bet (K-2). In addition to classroom materials, learning packets will be sent home to families (with words written in Hebrew, transliteration, and English) so that families will be able to work with their students in gaining familiarity with the Hebrew language.
These programs, like all the others that Federation funds, depend in large measure on the funds raised on Super Sunday and other occasions. The Torah School has clearly benefited from the generosity of the Washington community!
L’shalom,
Mary
SAVE THE DATE:
The Chesapeake Region will hold its Annual JRF Educators Professional Day at Adat Shalom on Sunday, January 20th, 2002. The theme this year will be "Hiddur Mitzvah--Incorporating Experiential Education, the Arts and Technology into Your Classroom." Keynote speaker will be Gabrielle Kaplan, a published playwrite and former religious school director at Oseh Shalom. This session is open to congregants as well as teachers--the cost is $20 which includes lunch. For more information, either contact Mary Meyerson or Jackie Land at JLJRF@aol.com.