Jewish Early Childhood Education Fellowship for Leadership and Excellence Holds 2nd Conference

Committed to working towards excellence, local educators convened their second conference as part of the Jewish Early Childhood Education Fellowship for Leadership and Excellence. The two-day conference brought together leadership teams from seven Jewish schools across metropolitan Seattle to explore the concept of lech lecha or journeying, one of the many Jewish "big ideas" the fellows will explore.

The fellowship is a two year process that started last June. Participants learn from each other and from other experts in the field, such as award-winning education consultant Diana Ganger. Fellows were provided with iPads, allowing them to download books, articles, and video to explore each theme in depth and jot down notes and thoughts. The fellows also use their iPads to document their journey and as a reflection tool. "It's vital to bring technology into Jewish education given that we live in the 21st century and technology is a huge part of our lives. This should be carried over into our schools," explains Liat Zaidenberg, Education Services Director at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.

Educators come together for bi-monthly Skype sessions with Ganger, who is based in Chicago, in addition to the five retreats held throughout the year. By functioning as a learning community, the fellowship seeks to bring a common educational language and method to early childhood education across denominational lines. One of the goals of this program is to create a collaborative effort to reach out to more Jewish families to join our Jewish schools who are working towards excellence.

Seattle is the first city in the US to bring all Jewish early childhood schools from various spectrums of the community together to collaborate and grow both towards excellence in their own institutions and as an overall learning community.

The fellowship will continue through June 2013. Education services will host classes facilitated by Diana Ganger open to the public in the coming months. More information at www.JewishInSeattle.org/Educators.