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If You Dream It, It Will Come…

Posted on 03/25/2022 @ 08:00 AM

Tags: Jewish Schools & Educational Services

Students from 7 Jewish day schools are enjoying new creative additions to their various classrooms:
  • flexible classroom furniture
  • a “pilot” program where students are learning about aviation as part of an “Intro to Engineering and Principles of Technology” class
  • a multi-sensory pinat Israel (Israel corner)
  • a library and reading corner
  • a wildlife habitat
  • brand-new Robotics kits to enhance the students’ STEM program

Teachers from each school devised innovative, out-of-the-box ideas for their students and the Eleanor M. and Herbert D. Katz Family Foundation helped bring these ideas to life.

The Eleanor Meyerhoff Katz z”l Teacher Initiative Awards are grants provided to exceptional Jewish day school teachers to implement new and creative classroom initiatives. Funded by the Eleanor M. and Herbert D. Katz Foundation and administered by the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE), a subsidiary agency of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, the Katz Teacher Initiative Awards are now in their 7th year.
 
Conceived by Daniel Katz, the program is a tribute to his mother, Eleanor Katz, who strongly believed in the importance of Jewish day school education, as well as in the dedicated teachers who make a difference in students’ lives.

This year, the award was given to six teachers from five Miami Jewish day schools: Hebrew Academy (RASG), Rambam Day School Temple Beth Am, Rohr Middle School, Scheck Hillel Community School, and Yeshiva Toras Emes.
 
Aliza Palgon, a grant recipient and ELA teacher at Rohr Middle School, had this to say about the new library and reading corner: 

“It has been an exciting and optimistic school year - the boys are constantly asking me if any new books have come in and how many books they can check out at a time. The funds from this grant are already going a long way in helping to cultivate an enthusiasm and enjoyment for reading - even with our reluctant and struggling students.”

According to Yanet Zalcberg, Hebrew Teacher at Rambam Day School and creator of the pinat Israel:

“Our students love our little corner of Israel and they cannot wait to keep visiting. They love getting to be protagonists of their learning — whether it's role-playing being vendors or shoppers, every Rambam Day School student is making wonderful memories.”

Applications for the 2022-2023 Katz Teacher Initiative Awards will be going out at the end of March, beginning of April.
 
For more information, please contact Audrey Maman Bensoussan, Associate Director for School Markets at audreymaman@caje-miami.org. 

To learn more about supporting Jewish Education in our community, please contact Debbie Brodie-Weiss at DebbieBWeiss@caje-miami.org
 or 305-979-5788.