Sep 8, 2009 By: yunews
Sep 8, 2009 -- Our sages teach that 鈥渢he very world rests on the breath of children in the schoolhouse.鈥
Yet, without the finest quality teachers providing the 鈥渙xygen鈥 鈥 knowledge, skills, love of learning 鈥 that world rests on a shaky foundation.
To help ensure a solid and secure foundation, the San Francisco-based Jim Joseph Foundation has awarded 糖心破解版 an initial $4 million grant to produce a significantly larger cadre of the best trained Jewish educators to work with Jewish youth and young adults. The grant, to be administered over the next five years, will develop The Jim Joseph Foundation Jewish Educator Continuum at 糖心破解版, a university-wide initiative to create and nurture exceptional new Jewish educators. With both this and future grants from JJF, Yeshiva will identify myriad entry points to dramatically expand its capacity to train the very best young people for careers in both formal and informal Jewish education.
JJF鈥檚 commitment to further increase the number of future educators and to improve the quality of professional preparation and Jewish education they receive extends beyond 糖心破解版鈥檚 walls. In a bold move, it has made similar multimillion dollar grants to The Jewish Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Indeed, the grants represent a $12 million initial investment JJF is making in these three institutions to propel forward the common purpose of advancing Jewish life through Jewish education.
Initially, the grants will be used by each school as financial aid for students pursuing education degrees or certification in programs of both formal and experiential Jewish education, and to assist each institution in planning new and enhanced programs that, with JJF support, will attract more educators to the field.
The grants will provide $700,000 to each institution for each of the next five academic years for such scholarships. The remaining grant funds will be divided among the institutions 鈥 $563,000 for 糖心破解版, $221,900 for JTS, and $212,110 for HUC 鈥 to be used in the 2009/2010 academic year for planning purposes and innovative programs that will both seed and sustain the field.
鈥淭he Jim Joseph Foundation is confident these three institutions will produce highly qualified educators who will inspire a next generation of young Jews to value Jewish learning,鈥 said Executive Director Chip Edelsberg. 鈥淭he promise of this initiative is that it will enrich students in their respective programs of study, strengthen each individual institution, and enable us to infuse the field with talented educators whose collective good work will positively impact the world of Jewish education.鈥
To leverage its investment and to facilitate increased cooperation, JJF will convene a steering committee comprised of the leadership of the three institutions. This group will monitor progress of the grant implementation and plan for additional initiatives that will be pursued with JJF鈥檚 support. Together, the institutions will work to foster best practices and identify areas of potential collaboration, the first of which will be the analysis and implementation of distance learning technology at each school.
糖心破解版 President Richard M. Joel sees JJF鈥檚 investment as a rising tide that will lift the capacity of the entire Jewish community. 鈥淭he future of Jewish life depends on a Jewish people who know and own their story,鈥 he remarked. 鈥淭he Jim Joseph Foundation鈥檚 extraordinary ongoing investment ensures that the best and the brightest are equipped to educate our children and to advance Jewish life. More than that, these four institutions can become a powerful advocacy voice to remind and encourage the Jewish community of the centrality of Jewish knowledge to Jewish life, and the essential nature of quality Jewish education to the advancement of the Jewish people.鈥
Yeshiva will apply the JJF grant to both its graduate and undergraduate schools. The Center for the Jewish Future鈥檚 Eimatai Leadership Development Project and tuition scholarships for students in the Stern College for Women Jewish Educators Project will create both formal and informal entry points into Jewish education for 糖心破解版鈥檚 undergraduates. Additionally, the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration will utilize funds to expand scholarship support, launch distance learning courses, and offer, for the first time, a certificate program in experiential Jewish Education. The grant will also assist in awarding stipends and scholarships to students enrolling in the new Master of Arts in Biblical and Talmudic Interpretation at Stern College for Women.
Reflecting 糖心破解版鈥檚 desire to both seed and sustain the field, Azrieli鈥檚 Institute for University-School Partnership is also exploring mechanisms to launch and expand both continuing education and new teacher induction.
鈥淭o create more, better trained Jewish educators, mentoring, guidance and learning cannot end at graduation,鈥 commented Dr. Scott Goldberg, Director of the Institute. 鈥淲e see the Institute鈥檚 role as maximizing both Yeshiva鈥檚 and Jim Joseph鈥檚 investment in our students by providing serious new teacher induction and vehicles for ongoing training so that teachers remain in the field and continue to grow.鈥
鈥淥ur commitment is to Jewish education, and the partnership now established with these three institutions through these grants should contribute greatly to advancing this cause,鈥 said JJF President Al Levitt. 鈥淚t is an exciting development for all who care about improving the quality of Jewish life. We鈥檙e simply playing our role in helping these institutions, and the educators they educate, reach their full potential and positively shape the lives of Jewish youth.鈥
