Teaching is an art, and a good teacher can leave a lifelong impression on a young learner.
Seven Bay Area teachers were recently honored for excellence in Jewish education, selected for their passion and creativity in the classroom.
Four are recipients of this year’s S.F.-based Helen Diller Family Award for Excellence in Jewish Education (a program of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation’s Jewish Community Endowment Fund) each winning a $10,000 cash prize, plus an additional $2,500 for their respective schools.
Another three classroom leaders earned Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards for Excellence in Jewish Education, given to educators throughout North America. Each honoree receives a minimum of $2,500, plus eligibility for professional development seminars and training.
Diller Award winners are Tsilla Brafman of Sinai Nursery School in San Jose; Marcia Gladstone, for her work with Santa Rosa’s Congregation Beth Ami religious school students; Scott Guggenheim, who uses drama as a teaching tool at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills; and Eti Steiner, for her work at Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto.
The Grinspoon-Steinhardt winners are Rabbi Tsipi Gabai of Tehiyah Day School in El Cerrito; Hana Cidon, a kindergarten teacher at Yavneh Day School in San Jose; and Hadassah Goldstein, an early childhood educator at the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center in San Rafael.
At Sinai, Brafman developed a child-directed program — which means, “when the doors open, we enter,” she explains simply. The preschoolers “take an active part in their learning. When the child is ready, it’s much easier for the child to learn.”
Brafman works with 2- to 6-year olds at the school, which is affiliated with the Conservative Congregation Sinai.
Gladstone of Santa Rosa was cited for her use of fabric art to convey Jewish traditions to her fifth grade and b’nai mitzvah students at Conservative Congregation Beth Ami. She also works with youngsters — including many with special needs — at Reform Congregation Shomrei Torah in Santa Rosa and Reconstructionist Congregation New Shalom in Cotati.
“I like to find new and interesting ways” to teach, says Gladstone, who studied child psychology and special education when getting her degree.
Gladstone, who has lived and taught in Sonoma County for a quarter-century, calls herself fortunate to be able to teach. “I love what I do.”
Guggenheim combines a love of theater and teaching to bring drama into the classroom at Congregation Beth Am. His program, “Be a Jewish Star,” provides an opportunity for Beth Am youth to learn about Jewish values, engage in community-building and learn Jewish history – all wrapped up the lively arena of performing arts. Children 8 to 16 years old participate, and meet at least twice a week before culminating their studies in a live performance.
Steiner, a Hebrew teacher and coordinator of K-5 Hebrew studies at Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto, was cited for her work with students, their families (she also taught Hebrew classes for parents) and other teachers at the school. After seven years at Hausner, Steiner recently returned to Israel, where she will teach.
Grinspoon-Steinhardt winner Goldstein has been teaching preschoolers at the OMJCC in San Rafael since the summer of 1987. It’s a job she never grows tired of — even with an hourlong commute from Fairfield, where she now lives. “I’m from Israel, I care about everything Jewish, and I love the preschool age — so I’m marrying everything together,” she says of her job.
Gabai, head rabbi of Tehiyah, was cited for her use of Sephardic Jewish songs and stories to “reinvigorate alienated students to Judaism.” Gabai, who is of Moroccan heritage, was ordained at age 45. Some 15 Tehiyah students attended her ordination in Los Angeles in June 2003, and fellow teachers and students threw her a party upon her return.
Cidon of Gilroy stood out for her work with kindergartners at Yavneh Day School. Cidon teaches cultural awareness and works to improve children’s social skills through the use of music, dance and group discussion.