Jewish Ed Project Yeshiva Day School Day of Learning energizes educators

While schools were closed for the federal holiday this week, over 500 Jewish educators participated in an annual professional development conference for yeshiva day school professionals. Teachers and principals from 14 schools in metro New York attended the Annual Yeshiva Day School Day of Learning run by The Jewish Education Project .

Hosted at Hebrew Academy of Long Beach, participants learned about the newest trends in progressive pedagogy with 21 different presenters and facilitators with expertise in STEM education, outdoor education, Tanakh, spirituality, classroom management, and multicultural education.

Leah Solaimanzadeh, an assistant English teacher at Yeshiva of Central Queens, said she was planning on implementing strategies she learned in a workshop focused on race in multicultural Jewish classrooms.

“At our school we have Jewish students from many different cultures and many different racial backgrounds. The presenter said we have to acknowledge it and we can’t be biased. We have to learn how to be in a multicultural environment,” said Solaimanzadeh.

“Rabbi Meir Mark’s presentation on helping students with stress was truly phenomenal. He had a wealth of knowledge beyond any instructor I’ve heard in other professional development workshops,” a conference participant wrote in a post-event survey. 

Keynote presenter Diana Bloom, an internationally known productivity and efficiency coach, also delivered a workshop on task management for principals and administrators.

“The workshop for principals made me think as a manager and supervisor more deeply about the way I am asking to get things done, and how that has to be better,” said Rabbi Adam Englander, Hebrew Academy of Long Beach’s head of school.

Bloom, a native of Rockville Center, Long Island, encouraged the crowd during her afternoon keynote to learn their personal strengths and weaknesses. She said educators need to learn how to efficiently work with their supervisors.

“It was incredible to see hundreds of Jewish educators come together from throughout greater New York and dream up new ways of inspiring and empowering their students,” said Na’ama Rosenberg, Director of Government Funded Programs for The Jewish Education Project and lead conference organizer.

“The Jewish community is strengthened when our educators invest in their own personal and professional growth. We are proud to help them, their schools, and students thrive.”

The annual Yeshiva Day School Day of Learning is one of the dozens of professional development events that The Jewish Education Project’s Day Schools and Yeshivas team coordinates each year. The Jewish Education Project provides and facilitates workshops for educators from 443 schools in metro New York and New York state that help teachers sharpen their leadership skills, analyze their school’s performance, and integrate technology, helping more than 112,000 Jewish day school students of all abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs thrive in today’s world.