Creators and Editors of the ShalomLearning Content

Meet Our Curriculum Development Team

Forward from our CEO

The creation of our curriculum was a collaborative effort with an expert team over several years, beginning with a bold vision from edtech entrepreneurs Andrew Rosen and Devin Schain in 2011. Our growing team of ShalomLearning experts throughout North America continues to keep it relevant and engaging with continuous updates.

Jill Allenberg Stepak and Aliza Sperling led the finalization of our first iterations in 2012-2014. Under Sarah Steinberg’s leadership as the CEO, Jill and Aliza solidified the design and vision of our values based curriculum in a very practical way. It is from this scaffolding that ShalomLearning continues to expand and reiterate today.

The purpose of this page is to give credit to all of our brilliant contributors. It is a fascinating work in progress, for just as the Jewish people continue to evolve, so does our sacred work of Jewish education.

This has been an evolving process with many to honor.  If we accidentally omitted you, please send me an email, so we can give you credit. We are revolutionizing Jewish education, and everyone who helps, should be honored.  On behalf of the Board and staff of ShalomLearning, thank you all for making our curriculum engaging, accessible and relevant. The future for our children is much brighter because of you. Yesher Koach.

 – Joshua Troderman, CEO

 

Program Advisors

The ShalomLearning curriculum blends technology, developmentally appropriate content and teaching methods to reach students on their terms in order to build understanding, impart critical skills and forge a lifelong love of Judaism and Jewish learning. Leaders in Jewish Education and Education Technology advised the foundations of our curriculum in the early stages.

Dr. Erica Brown, Director of Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership. Site: www.ericabrown.com

Andrew Rosen, CEO at Interfolio, Inc.

Rabbi Sid Schwarz, Senior Fellow at Clal: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. Site: www.rabbisid.org

Dr. Jonathan Woocher z”l, Senior Fellow at Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah

 

Initial Iteration Curriculum Development Team (Grades 4-6)

The ShalomLearning curriculum is organized around seven core Jewish values that infuse our traditions (both ancient and modern) with wisdom and meaning. The project began in 2010  by experts using the pedagogic principles of Understanding by Design (UBD), by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins to create ShalomLearning curriculum for grades 4-6.

Jill Allenberg Stepak, ShalomLearning Director of Curriculum Development

Aliza Sperling, ShalomLearning Curriculum Program Manager

Rabbi Shmuel Feld, ShalomLearning Curriculum Writer

Rabbi Yakov Majeski, ShalomLearning Master Teacher

Mariana Haroun, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Tammie Rapps, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Barry Krasner, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

JoHanna Potts, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Rebecca Weisman, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Avi West, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Meredith Woocher, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

 

Additional Grade Level Curriculum Development Team

As the adoption of the ShalomLearning program grew over the years, so did the curriculum. ShalomLearning released our third grade curriculum for the 2015-16 academic year.  The following year our partners had access to our seventh grade curriculum, and in for the 2017-18, second grade curriculum was officially released.  

Adam Bellows, ShalomLearning Curriculum Writer

Rabbi Melissa Bellows, ShalomLearning Curriculum Writer

Rabbi Danielle Eskow, ShalomLearning Curriculum Writer

Amy Goldberg, ShalomLearning Curriculum Writer

Heidi Lovitz, ShalomLearning Curriculum Writer

Leah Maas, ShalomLearning Curriculum Writer

Rachel Meytin, ShalomLearning Curriculum Writer

Laura Naide, ShalomLearning Curriculum Writer

Jennifer Newfeld, ShalomLearning Curriculum Writer

 

Curriculum Editors

Each year, ShalomLearning experts use feedback from our educators and changes in education technology to make revisions to our curriculum.

Heidi Baker, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Eliana Bernard, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Liana Brodsky, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Rachel Besser, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Mindy Gold, Curriculum Consultant, www.edtechmmg.com

Debi Himelfarb, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Rabbi Janice Mehring, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Becky Oliver, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Michele Rosenfield, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Jade Sank, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Shira Sender, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Marci Serfaty, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Shani Sicherman, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Alisa Silverman, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Cheryl Vogel, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Daniel Young, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Alison Zimbalist, ShalomLearning Curriculum Contributor

Finally, we’d like to express our gratitude to all of the ShalomLearning educators who have submitted feedback upon which the curriculum updates are based.