The National Association of Temple Educators (NATE) is pleased to announce the winning congregations of the Yad b’Yad Award: New and/or Innovative Student Learning Approaches, acknowledging innovative programming and curricula. They are:
Rabbi Nicki Greninger, Director of Education for Temple Isaiah, Lafayette, California for her submission of a “Synagogue Based Education Program” that offers a number of different “tracks” of Religious School for students in 3rd through 6th Grade. Tracks may include, Teva – Nature, Omanut – Art, Y’tzira - Creation/Storytelling, Shira – the Musical, Edot – Culture, etc. Rabbi Greninger presented her program at the NATE Conference in Phoenix.
Kate Milgrom, Education Director for Temple Emanu El, Orange Village, OH for her submission of “Kitah Kadimah”, which is an enrichment class that embraces Project Based Learning. Students explore Jewish prayer and spirituality addressing areas such as the history of T’filah, different forms of T’filah and whether prayer should be in Hebrew, etc. as they seek to identify how the school can make our Grade 3 – 6 T’filah engaging as possible for their peers.
The first two Yad b’Yad Awards were as follows:
• Yad b’Yad Award: Outstanding Teen Engagement Programming, awarded at the Education Summit during the 2011 URJ Biennial to Barrett Harr on behalf of the education team at Temple Shalom of Dallas, Texas.
• Yad b’Yad Award: Exceptional Professional Learning for Educational Staff, awarded to Marla Wolf during the 2012 NATE Kallah in San Antonio on behalf of the education team at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood, Ohio.
Through the presentation of these awards, we hope to recognize the achievements of our members and draw attention to their exemplary contributions to Jewish education.
At the core of NATE's mission is the elevation and professionalization of the position of Reform Jewish educator both within and outside of the Movement; this award will help enable us to achieve that goal while celebrating our colleagues’ accomplishments.
Henceforth, at each NATE in-person professional development gathering, there will be an opportunity to present a Yad b'Yad Award to a NATE member. The category for each award will be connected to the gathering’s theme or topic.
The winner for each Yad b’Yad Award is given the kavod of presenting his or her program publicly through a webinar to the full NATE community and beyond. The winners also receive an inscribed Torah yad, national recognition in NATE publicity, and recognition in his/her home city and institution. The NATE Recognition Committee will choose the winning programs.
Watch your email and this website for the announcement of our next Yad b'Yad Award category to coincide with NATE's 2014 Spring Kallah.
Ava Keenen Kurnow and Stacy Rosenthal, Co-chairs
akeenen@cbisd.org and srosenthal@cbiaz.org
