CAJE Recognized Nationally
Posted on 02/10/2023 @ 05:00 AM
In 2015 for several years, CAJE’s Day School Department under the leadership of Valerie Mitrani received a major grant from the Avi Chai Foundation to help our day school teachers develop their ability to utilize technology for blended and personalized learning.
In 2019, CAJE’s Teen Department under the leadership of Carly Orshan received a Covenant Foundation Grant (the “Oscar” of the Jewish education world) of $150,000 over three years for her Kavannah Coaching initiative to train youth professionals in the skills of coaching and mentoring.
Over the last three years, CAJE’s Miami Jewish Film Festival under the leadership of Igor Shteyrenberg was designated one of the top 50 film festivals in the world by the industry publication MovieMaker Magazine.
This week, we want to share with you the exciting news that our very own Rabbi Efrat Zarren-Zohar was elected by her peers to co-chair ADCA, the Association of Directors of Central Agencies.
In addition, Rabbi Zarren-Zohar was chosen by Prizmah (the National Day School organization) and the JEIC/ Mayberg Foundation to be one of only 25 people nationally representing all facets of the Teacher Recruitment & Retention issue as part of a group working on improving the Pipeline of Jewish Day School Educators.
That core group of 25 includes an impressive list of people with unique expertise and dedication to Jewish day schools and yeshivas in North America. It includes school leaders, academics, researchers, service providers, trainers and coaches, teachers and recent graduates, Federation/BJE leaders, and lay leaders.
The Pipeline Working Group process will be divided into three phases over the next 8 months:
- Assessment Phase: Focusing on a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis, mapping the field, and connecting dots in overlapping areas.
- Exploration Phase: Looking at past and existing efforts and brainstorming new opportunities.
- Planning Phase: Vetting the ideas generated during the Exploration Phase, identifying the highest-potential concepts worth pursuing, creating an action plan, and laying the groundwork for implementation and experimentation.
The goals for the project include publishing a playbook of creative and new initiatives, producing thought leadership to raise the visibility of the issue, and increasing investment in projects to advance the pipeline of Jewish day school and yeshiva educators.
Many thanks to Marc Wolf, the Chief Program and Strategy Officer of Prizmah and Sharon Freundel, the Managing Director of JEIC, Jewish Education Innovation Challenge, who will lead this crucial process!
