As Sharon Freundel, Managing Director for JEIC, explains in the introduction to each episode of this new podcast series, “The ‘keystone’ is the central stone at the summit of an arch, locking the whole together. We believe that a strong Jewish Day School education is what holds the Jewish people together as we look towards the next generation.”

JEIC’s mission aims to catalyze radical improvement in Jewish Day schools, and this series highlights some of the educators and leaders who are doing that, one bold idea at a time. 

Our hope is that listeners will be inspired by a bold idea (or two or many) introduced through this podcast and make it their own. We challenge you to consider both the incredible responsibility and opportunity you have in the “keystone” of the Jewish Day School system and use these episodes as inspiration to innovate, experiment, and collaborate.
For more information about JEIC or any of the ideas presented in these podcasts, please reach out to Sharon directly at Sharon@jewishchallenge.org.

Keystones: Connecting Israelis to Jewish Identity with Itamar Kremer

Itamar Kremer, VP of education and innovation for Masa Israel, shares a new approach to developing a sense of Jewish identify through intentional gatherings between Israelis and other Jews from around the world.

Keystones: Using UDL to Create Connectors with Debra Drang

Debra Drang, Director of Special Education for Sulam in Silver Spring, MD, shares an application of the UDL (Universal Design for Learning) model to Jewish learning, aimed at creating students who are expert connectors.

Keystones: Cultivation Mindsets for Now and the Future with Shira Deener

Shira Deener, Head of School at JCDS in Boston, shares a framework for preparing students for a complex world by cultivating specific mindsets (Habits of Mind and Heart).

Keystones: Bringing Jewish Values to Action with Lisa Schopf

Lisa Schopf, Middle School Director at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School in Washington DC, shares an approach to integrated learning, incorporating Jewish values and texts, and using learning to take concrete action (Scholars Forum).

Keystones: Instilling Jewish Values through Planes of Development with Brocha Baum-Margolese

Dr. Brocha Baum-Margolese shares an introduction to using planes of development and other foundational elements of Montessori education to instill core Jewish values and ways to integrate.

Keystones: Making a Tangible Connection to Israel with Elianna Perez

Elianna Perez, a volunteer with ACHI613, shares an introduction to using Israeli items as a connection and physical reminder of Israel (KLEE Project).

Keystones: Inspiring Students to Change the World with Eric Petersiel

Eric Petersiel, Head of School at Leo Baeck Jewish Day School, shares a discussion of social justice education, focusing on intentional education of how students can change the world.

Keystones: Developing Future Educators with Rabbi Yaakov Green

Rabbi Yaakov Green, Head of School, Maimonides in Boston, explains how his school's new mentorship program is expanding the Jewish day school teacher pipeline by cultivating college students to become future Judaic teachers.

Keystones: Delving into Black Narratives with Lonnie Firestone

Lonnie Firestone, Founder and Director for Exploring Black Narratives, shares a framework for exploring identity through the lens of storytelling.

Keystones: Learning Torah through Gardening with Sara Just-Michael

Sara Just-Michael, Executive Director for Grow Torah, shares an approach to Torah learning and integrates gardening that aims for students to have fun and fall in love with learning (Grow Torah).

Keystones: Engaging in Productive Argument with Robbie Gringras

Robbie Gringas, Director of For the Sake of Argument, shares a framework for Israel education, focused on better understanding arguments and how to have arguments that help us grow (For the Sake of Argument).

Keystones: Celebrating Hebrew Instruction with Rabbi Andrew Ergas

Rabbi Andrew Ergas, Chief Executive Officer for Hebrew at the Center, shares a focus on success stories for Hebrew language instruction and learning in order to promote future successes.

Keystones: Supporting Student Mental Health with Olivia Friedman

Olivia Friedman, teacher and facilitator for Erica's Lighthouse at Ida Crown in Chicago, shares an opportunity and approach to providing resources for mental health to students (Erica's Lighthouse).

Keystones: Cultivating Dispositions of Respect with Bat Sheva Miller and Dana Keil

Bat Sheva Miller, Upper School Director, and Dana Keil, Lower School Director, (both at Luria Academy of Brooklyn) share a framework of commitments challenging students and faculty to always be making themselves better (Four commitments of Unconditional Respect).

Keystones: Bringing Jewish Law and Practice to Life with Jason Feld

Jason Feld, former Head of School at Northwest Yeshiva high school in Seattle and incoming Head of School at Akiba Yavneh in Dallas, shares an experiential approach to teaching rabbinics, making the learning authentic and connecting it to real life (XBM - Experiential Beit Midrash).

Keystones: Rethinking Tanach Pedagogy with Amira Soleimani and Laura Pasek

Amira Soleimani and Laura Lasek, teachers at Hillel Day School in Detroit, share an approach to teaching Torah, based on research-based practices in literacy instruction, that aims to cultivate a love of Torah and seeing the Torah as a guide for life (Tanach Sadna).