AWARD WINNER

And the Winner is ...!

Distinguished Achievement Award for Alef Bet Quest

We did it again! On June 8 Alef Bet Quest won the prestigious Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence from the Association of Educational Publishers, at its annual meeting in Washington DC. The award serves as a terrific sequel to the two AEP awards we won in 2007, for the History of the Jewish People and Manga Midrash.

As you know, Alef Bet Quest is another in our growing array of software firsts: the first Hebrew program to fully integrate text-based lessons with animated online learning. It joins the ranks of the Kol Yisrael  series in offering an integrated book/digital experience for teaching Hebrew. It won in the world languages category.

Alef Bet Quest was a remarkable team effort. The book was authored by Dina Maiben, Education Direction of Temple Shaari Emeth in Manalapan, NJ. The book forms the pedagogic backbone for the software, which was developed by e-Media Editor Jeremy Poisson and North-South Studios. Terry Kaye, our Vice President and Director of Educational Consulting Services, served as project editor, ensuring that the book and software work well with each other, and that both book and software effectively served the needs of educators and students of widely varying backgrounds and with diverse sets of needs. Senior Editor Dena Neusner wrote the script for the software. Eve Pasternak provided digital quality assurance. And our Editorial Committee of Hana Alter, Sarah Gluck, Lesley Litman, Ellen Rank, and Pearl Tarnor played an essential role as well.

The AEP is the professional organization for educational publishers throughout North America; its membership of 400 ranges from such large publishers as Scholastic and Pearson Learning, to smaller specialized firms such as ourselves. Awards are determined by a panel of publisher-judges and recognize the “best educational materials” within specific categories.

Please let us know if you’d like to learn more about Alef Bet Quest or any other Behrman House publication. Call us at 800-221-2755, or email Terry Kaye at terry@behrmanhouse.com.

HIGH-TECH HEBREW

For Hebrew Learning, the Skype’s the Limit

Tech Tools for Synagogue Schools

The phone keeps ringing at Temple Micah, Washington, DC. Educators want to learn more about their Skype Hebrew program after a front-page article in the New York Jewish Week highlighted their school’s use of technology for one-on-one Hebrew learning.

With 100,000 households subscribing to this weekly newspaper, including tens of thousands more people who read the online version, the article got a lot of people interested in the featured educators and their high-tech Jewish educational program. So we created a few more useful tools for you: online Hebrew assessment, top 10 digital resources, tech connection for The Prophets: Speaking Out for Justice, and 9 ways to use Skype. Please let us know what other tech tools you’d find useful in your synagogue. Just write to terry@behrmanhouse.com

GOOD IDEAS

Lessons from the Trail

Use Your Vacation Plans to Connect to Students

by Terry Kaye
If you’ve ever hiked in Southwestern Utah, you know the joys of the fresh, clean air, the stark beauty of the landscape, the peace and sense of well-being.

Then there are the surprises, the sights that fill us with wonder: the woman hiking on crutches in Bryce, the sign on the wall of a log cabin, a smiley-face rock found in the Virgin River in Zion.

If you’ll be having summer experiences like these, share them with your students when you return to school in the fall. Bring in your photos, post your video on YouTube, describe your experiences and how they made you feel, do “show and tell.” It’ll help your students see a different side of you, will encourage them to notice deeply, and will help them see that everywhere we turn, there’s something we can learn.

LEADERSHIP

You're Invited!

Leadership Institute for Congregational Educators

There’s a priceless opportunity waiting for you in New York City. The Leadership Institute for Congregational Educators invites you to apply to join their third cohort of educators beginning in February 2011.

Guided by the vision and funding of UJA-Federation of New York, and in partnership with the BJE/SAJES of New York, the schools of education at HUC-JIR and JTS have joined together to further the professional skills and Judaic knowledge of congregational educators.

The UJA-Federation of New York has awarded the Institute a grant of close to $2 million dollars—about $50,000 per educator. Participants will receive a $1,500 stipend to pursue an Individualized Learning Plan and an additional $2,000 for their congregation to develop professional learning for the faculty. If you are selected, you will learn during two ten-day summer seminars; a ten-day seminar in Israel; various skill-building symposia; and a series of site visits to successful congregational schools.

For more information, visit www.leader-institute.org or contact Dr. Evie Rotstein, Project Director, erotstein@huc.edu, or Beth Lutzker, Program Associate, blutzker@huc.edu, or 212-824-2299.