The Fellowship's Impact on Congregation Beth Shalom ECC
Fellows: Leah Lemchen and Meirav Melamed
When the Fellowship began, I had been a director for a little under nine months. At the beginning, I could not begin to anticipate the opportunities this Fellowship would provide for me to learn and grow as a leader. I also had no idea how important it would be for me to build relationships with colleagues and have the support of an inspirational mentor in Diana Ganger, the educational consultant for the Fellowship. My interactions with Diana have helped me to feel inspired, motivated and proud. She helps me recognize and value growth as it happens.
This Fellowship has provided an opportunity to look at our schools through different lenses representing Jewish “big ideas.” These values guide my interactions, as well as help me identify directions in which our school can grow. Understanding the parallel process has encouraged me to be the best director I can be, a quality I enjoy seeing reflected in teachers.
Through the Fellowship, I have increased my awareness of the value of emotionally responsive practice, which is an extremely important “big idea” in our school. This helps me as I provide training and guidance for teachers and gives me great confidence as a parent in our school. Having empathy for families, teachers and children makes me the director I want to be. Understanding the value of empathy is something I learned in the Fellowship.
Working as a director is a very busy and exhausting job. It can be hard to stop and think deeply when time is taken up in meetings, working on scheduling, figuring out the budget, etc. Through this Fellowship, I have learned the value of reflection. If I didn’t make the time to reflect and think deeply, both on my own and with teachers and families, our school would not be the place it is today. The quality of our environments and our relationships is what makes our school special.
When the Fellowship began, I had been a director for a little under nine months. At the beginning, I could not begin to anticipate the opportunities this Fellowship would provide for me to learn and grow as a leader. I also had no idea how important it would be for me to build relationships with colleagues and have the support of an inspirational mentor in Diana Ganger, the educational consultant for the Fellowship. My interactions with Diana have helped me to feel inspired, motivated and proud. She helps me recognize and value growth as it happens.
This Fellowship has provided an opportunity to look at our schools through different lenses representing Jewish “big ideas.” These values guide my interactions, as well as help me identify directions in which our school can grow. Understanding the parallel process has encouraged me to be the best director I can be, a quality I enjoy seeing reflected in teachers.
Through the Fellowship, I have increased my awareness of the value of emotionally responsive practice, which is an extremely important “big idea” in our school. This helps me as I provide training and guidance for teachers and gives me great confidence as a parent in our school. Having empathy for families, teachers and children makes me the director I want to be. Understanding the value of empathy is something I learned in the Fellowship.
Working as a director is a very busy and exhausting job. It can be hard to stop and think deeply when time is taken up in meetings, working on scheduling, figuring out the budget, etc. Through this Fellowship, I have learned the value of reflection. If I didn’t make the time to reflect and think deeply, both on my own and with teachers and families, our school would not be the place it is today. The quality of our environments and our relationships is what makes our school special.