INTRODUCING MRS. JAIME ALTER-EDUCATIONAL DIRECTOR
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
OROT Chronicle August 2021
INTRODUCING MRS. JAIME ALTER—
EDUCATIONAL DIRECTOR
With both gratitude and families, as well as visiting the class-
excitement, I am hon- rooms weekly to ensure a smooth year
ored to take on the role and many years to come. Our family
of Educational Director knows firsthand the importance of
for the OROT program. strengthening our Jewish community
My journey with OROT as two of our three children are cur-
began when I was a stu- rently enrolled at the Forman Center,
dent teacher in the and loving every second! After a tre-
OROT room at Politz mendously challenging year and a
Hebrew Academy as part of my senior half, wherein our students and teach-
work project in high school. We don't ers truly showed us how resilient,
have to go into detail about how long adaptable and strong they really are, I
ago that was, but it sparked a light am eager to begin this year as we see
that developed into an incredibly ful- the light at the end of a very long tun-
filling career as an OROT teacher. I nel. Wishing everyone a happy and
am looking forward to meeting all of healthy year ahead!
our wonderful students and their
MY GOOD BYE TO OROT, LISA WOODWARD
The past two years have been filled with learning new things
- like ZOOM, not seeing grandparents or friends, masks,
plastic dividers on desks, and lots of hand sanitizers. Now,
we breathe a huge sigh of relief as our days will begin to re-
turn to something closer to normal.
We’ve seen lots of ZOOM learning and super-creative ways
to teach reading, art, math, and Jewish Studies. Our stu-
dents are so excited to come back and be with their friends, even if it means some
mask wearing and some important rules.
Our teachers will continue to be the amazing leaders that they have been. And this
is why I am focusing so much time in this Chronicle on just some of the efforts that
our teachers have made during the past difficult months.
Finally, I must say good-by to my friends- the students at each school, the great
administrators, learning coordinators, wonderful friends and family that I’ve made
and who I intend to keep, and to my teachers, who are the most powerful allies
that your children will ever have.
As I move on to Connecticut, where my son will take on a large pulpit job with his
wife and my two little granddaughters, I will always miss OROT! As this position
passes on to Jaime Katz Alter, I am looking forward to seeing where her bright
passions and ideas take our wonderful organization!
OROT KIDS EXCITED ABOUT OROT
Our children love OROT! During our Annual write about baseball and basketball,
Event, our students spoke about how much and have even written about salaman-
they enjoy their time in OROT! ders and other creatures from the play
yard.
My two years at OROT were filled with some
of the best teaching that I have seen through-
out my career whether in person, in tents or
Mrs. Susan Wohlgelernter, w h o teach -
on video. There were engaged children, from
es benching, Kriah, and math to various stu-
ages 6 to 13 , doing their very best under ever-
dents. Her calm
changing environments.
voice and well-
For example, our students love the way formed explana-
they are taught in small groups. They tions help her
have learned so much about the neces- students to shine,
sary strategies to learn socially, emo- and they learn as
tionally and academically, and here are they speak loudly
just a few examples about how our and proudly, and
teachers have helped our children: understand what
they are doing. She is able to teach any child
At our Politz campus, OROT teachers have
so that they feel good about themselves.
been teaching with joy and enthusiasm! Stu-
dents have learned the fundamentals of read- At our Caskey Torah Academy campus, we
ing at a first grade level, through SRA books have outstanding teachers, in particular,
teaching them sounds and word families, and Mrs. Shayna Malka Zeffren. Sh e has an
through manipulatives and Kriah. understanding about each and every child, so-
cially, emotionally and
The children go deep into phonics as
academically. Mrs.
Mrs. K.B. Beshansky
Zeffren taught writing,
shows them how to be
reading and Kriah. I
students, teaching them
enjoyed watching her
strategies on listening,
and I learned many
sensory paths, and fol-
Kriah skills that I had-
lowing directions. Her
n’t known before.
devotion to each and
every student, whether Mrs. Adina Spiller
it is in Kriah, math, or brought new life into the first, second, and
reading is exceeded only by her knowledge of third grade language arts program. She added
executive functioning and social/emotional the program Letterland into the mix, and the
learning. children are following the program and learn-
ing how to read! They
Mrs. Gail Twersky m ade im por tant
are so proud of their
gains with the students in math, reading, and
achievements and
writing. She helped
they
the children to en-
know what is expected. In
joy reading, to feel
math, Mrs. Spiller knows how
confident and to
to teach the necessary skills,
give solid infor-
and taught them with manipu-
mation in literal and
latives on and off the screen.
inferential reading.
She taught the stu- Mrs. Aliza Chaitoff has a
dents about fractions, using manipulatives, special ability to teach her students according
and explaining about how those fractions fit to the way they need to learn. She under-
together. Again, her students used their stands that positive reinforcement helps our
knowledge of words to put together beautiful students to learn and builds self-confidence.
stories about their learning. She is able to push in to mainstream classes
and reinforce lessons as needed in her small
group instruction classroom.
Imagine Mrs. Chevi Kaplan teaching a group
of fourth grade boys and some girls as well.
She is strong, firm and teaches the children to
read from wonderful modern books and from
writing.
2 The children use their teaching to
Mrs. Dale Dunoff, helps car e for her students by offer ing individual help w ith K r i-
ah, and by offering executive functioning skills for some of our students with homework issues.
At our PJDS– Forman Center, Mrs. Jaime Alter has led the OROT Forman Team for a number of
years. She worked with five students, at four different grade
levels! Mrs. Alter knows how to teach each student at their aca-
demic and social/emotional level. She teaches writing, reading,
math, and social/emotional skills to her students. She has a
magical way of making each child feel important and engaged,
which is why she is now the new Educational Director of
OROT!
At our PJDS– Stern Center Mrs. Lorna Joffe is
amazing, whether teaching writing, reading,
math, or Judaic Studies. She is clear in her
understanding of her students abilities and
knows how each child will succeed. She is for-
mally trained in Whole Body Listening and Rules of Regulation. She is Wilson
aficionado and can help students to read and write. Mrs. Joffe’s expertise in ex-
ecutive functioning has allowed her to share her knowledge will fellow teachers.
Mrs. Sarah Gindoff taugh t a w onder ful gr oup of
amazing fourth graders. Her students created Tu’bishvat
booklets, Purim spiels, and used every kind of reading comprehension, math
and writing skill for the year.
Mrs. Alyssa Gottlieb gave her all to h er fir st and second gr ader s
this year. She taught them about characters, implicit and explicit criteria for
reading and set them on a path of success for second and third grades.
Our teachers have remained inspiring, encouraging, and constant no matter
what the situation was in the classroom. The teachers have taught through all kinds of learning
environments (e.g., tents, virtual teaching, and technology). The teachers are teaching our chil-
dren how to learn, how to be flexible, and how to deal with their feelings, even in these difficult
times. They target the needs of every single child. Their devotion and ability is unmatched, and
our students are taught how to succeed emotionally, socially, and academically. We examine and
tweak our methods, strategies and curricula to make sure that we target the individual needs of
each child with urgency and joy.
3
OROT STUDENT ESSAY STANDS OUT IN CONTEST
Caskey Torah Academy had a special contest from Tim Briggs, 149th District, Har-
risburg, Pennsylvania. Representative Briggs was again inviting students to partici-
pate in his “There Ought to be a Law” for this 12th annual installment, and Rep.
Briggs was excited to read all of the creative ideas.
The contest was for all fifth grade students in the dis-
trict, and to teach how students how to get involved in
the legislative process. Shifra Erlbaum, a fifth grade
student at CTA, submitted an essay on how important
it is to not have bullying in the public school. She
spoke about how bullying can cause both physical and
emotional pain, how it is not always addressed when
it is first presented. As Shifra wrote, “It could be
cyber bullying, physical bullying, verbal bullying, or
social bullying.” Also, Shifra noted that “there should
be teacher training on how to help the victim, the bul-
ly and the entire class.”
We are so proud of Shifra Erlbaum, who was in Mrs.
Zeffren’s writing class!
TREASURE CHEST WRITING PARTY
During the last week of school, we were treated to a
wonderful ZOOM meeting of just about all of Mrs.
Twersky’s language arts students, ranging from sec-
ond to eighth grade! Every student had been writ-
ing stories over the past many months about topics
of interest to them, combined with the Lucy Calkins
method of “Write, write, write”, where students can
practice their writing, and become better and better
in their writing skills. The students all showed their
confidence in being able to practice their reading
out loud.
Mrs. Twersky sent out
lovely invitations all
the parents, inviting
them to join, by
ZOOM, and to watch
their students read
their Treasure Chests of stories. We heard about a
student explaining how to make a snowman,
about playing basketball and riding his bike,
about the African Savannah, about birthday par-
ties, about baking cupcakes with flowers, and
about an injured eye with an emergency!
4
Support OROT, the special needs initiative in
Philadelphia’s Jewish day schools
Annual Hanukkah Candle and
Happy Hanukkah!
Tribute Card Sale!
Candles and tribute cards can be purchased by credit card, check or cash
Fill out the form below and send it to school with your child
or mail to the OROT Office:
7601 Old York Road, Melrose Park, PA 19027
Candles can also be purchased on our website at www.orotkids.org or by
calling our office 215.935.0020
Questions? Email Hilary – info@orotkids.org
Family Name:
Phone Number:
School:
Child(s) Name:
Child(s) Grade and Teacher’s Name:
Quantity (number of boxes):
Total Cost:
Credit Card Number:
Exp. Date: SEC:
Name of it appears on Credit Card:
Make checks payable to: OROT
Return orders no later than Friday, November 19, 2021
Candles can be picked up at school beginning November 22, 2021
(PJDS Stern and Forman , Politz, CTA) *
*pickup locations subject to change depending on the school guidelines at this time.
2021-2022 OROT TEACHERS
Caskey Torah Academy Politz Hebrew Academy
610.642.7870 215.969.5960
Aliza Chaitoff Rabbi Yaakov Selengut
Dale Dunoff Adina Spiller KB Beshansky Gail Twersky
Khana Globman Leslie Wallace Chevi Kaplan Susie Wohlgelernter
Syma Gutman Shayna M. Zeffren
Dovid Schwartz
PJDS—Forman Center PJDS—Stern Center
215.635.3130 610.658.2518
Rachel Glauser Barbara Gettes Sarah Gindoff Bryan Kirschner
Lorna Joffe
Heartfelt thanks and gratitude to so many who made it possible for us to have our teach-
ers and students in the classrooms; in person and virtually. We are fortunate to be part
of such a dedicated community. www.orotkids.org/donate
OROT
7601 Old York Road Melrose, PA 19027 Phone: 215.932.0020
Beth Schonberger
Marcia Garrell
Director of Development
Executive Director
bschonberger@orotkids.org
mgarrell@orotkids.org
Hilary Cummings
Jaime Alter
Office Manager
Educational Director
info@orotkids.org
jalter@orotkids.org
You can also read
