Four Los Angeles-based Jewish day school educators were surprised this week with a Jewish Educator Award. The award consists of $15,000 cash prizes that can be used for whatever the educator chooses.
The annual awards were announced and presented during surprise assemblies on Thursday, Sept. 21 at the educators’ respective schools in west L.A., and presented by the Milken Family Foundation and Builders of Jewish Education.
This year’s awardees are Anna August, Rabbi Avraham Berman, Sarah Shpall and Rabbi Moshe Tropper, who each win $15,000 cash prizes that can be used for anything they choose.
“Educators have the most important job in our society. We give the awesome responsibility to our teachers to prepare us so that we can take our place in society,” said Milken Family Foundation Executive Vice President Richard Sandler in a news release. Sandler has been involved with the Jewish Educator Award program since 1990.
According to the foundation, a committee of educators, professionals and community members select award recipients based on 10 criteria, including originality and innovation, student empowerment, and the ability to develop children’s understanding of Jewish faith and life in and outside of the classroom. A commitment to continuing Judaic and secular study is “necessary” for professional development.
August, a teacher of Judaic Studies and art at Sinai Akiba Academy, near Westwood, integrated virtual reality into her classroom. One of the projects she coordinated allows students to paint scenes from the Exodus virtually. She also coordinates annual art shows and leads after-school activities and faculty art projects.
Rabbi Berman, a teacher at L.A.’s Yavneh Hebrew Academy, has taught Judaic Studies the last 15 years with “passion and zest,” the release said, including exciting lessons on the Torah, and coordinating the academy’s Gemara program.
“His mentorship to the boys of Yavneh has undoubtedly helped foster the next…
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