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.
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