FW: Director of Education Position

[Debbie Barnes]

-----Original Message-----
From: Ruth M. Szykman [mailto:mora...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 7:47 AM
To: dba...@boltonstreet.org
Subject: Director of Education Position

Dear Ms. Barnes,

I am writing in response to the Director of Education position listed on Jewishjobs.com. I was very excited to see this job listed as it is exactly the kind of position I had in mind when I decided to return to school for my Masters in Jewish Education at Baltimore Hebrew Institute at Towson University.

As you can see from the resume I’ve attached to this email, I have been involved in Jewish Education for more than 13 years. I’ve had the pleasure of teaching 7th grade at B’nai Israel Congregation in Rockville for 13 years and in this time I have worked hard to create meaningful and exciting curricula for my students. I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about how a Religious School is run and the details involved in running programs. I understand the importance of excellent, clear communication with teachers, students and parents and how teachers must be able to have a strong support system in place so they can do their jobs. I know that details are crucial in creating successful, smooth programming and that this best happens when there is a team in place who work well together.

I look forward to discussing this position and my experience further with you. Please feel free to contact me by either email or phone at your convenience.

B’Shalom,

Ruth M. Szykman

[Aaron Schneiderman]

Dear all:

Ms Szykman looks interesting with relevant experience.  Any interest in pursuing the candidate for interview?

Can someone provide a brief synopsis of impressions of Mickey Rubin?

Thanks

Aaron

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Director of Education" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to director-of-educ...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

[Jodi Kaye]

Hi Aaron--

I think she looks interesting, too, though I'm concerned that she'd be driving from Silver Spring all the time.....

Re Mickey Rubin--we all seemed to like him. He's young-ish, has great energy, seems to get us, seems interested in our community, seems to get what we're doing with the school and seems to be similarly minded. Has adminsitrative experience. Recognizes his youth and respects the expertise of the teachers. Will come with an "army" of Towson kids and graduates to help with youth group stuff. We all agree he is our #1 choice for now. All--feel free to add stuff, I'm packing up to head out of work.

Thanks,

Jodi

[Aaron Schneiderman]

Dear All

given this glowing review of Mr Rubin, can anyone compare /contrast him to Sharon Green who i thought was very strong.  How does he pull ahead of her with the principal experience and very solid teaching credentials?  as a teacher in our school, i would say some of the strongest teachers we have had were those with good classroom skills honed in daily use.  That was a significant strength for Sharon - even if teaching wouldn't be her main activity, being able to advise and support comes from a range of past experiences. 

[Hartstein, Marc (CMS/CM)]

So I would say that he had much of the charisma, style and energy of the 1^st candidate without any of the issues (being Shomer Shabbas) that made her a potential mismatch with our Congregation.  I believe there were concerns that Sharon may not be as energetic as either of our two other candidates although she would highly professional and competent.  While she has more classroom experience (although not specifically in teaching Hebrew School), Mickey does teach Hebrew School now and provided us with exceptional examples of lesson plans and how he established order and discipline in the classroom as well as rapport with his students.  Like the 1^st candidate, we felt that he would be able to establish strong connections with the youth of our synagogue.  There may have been less certainty on that point with Sharon Green (although I would admit to being unsure).  That said, I think they were both strong candidates but I think the group generally thought he would be better at attracting families to the religious school.  I think Mickey came across as more visionary as well than Sharon.  These are my impressions of how the group felt.  Naturally, I welcome other thoughts if I did not capture the collective impressions of the group.

 

(As President-Elect with concern about the bottom line, Mickey’s strong connections with Towson University and the fact that he could bring a lot of young adults to the synagogue resonated a lot with me which could be attractive not just in enlarging our community but also helping bring youthful energy into the school and Congregation.  I think others shared that view as well)

[Rabbi John Franken]

Those are some good summaries. Just a reminder to all to please keep our discussions confidential. Thanks.

Rabbi John Franken
Bolton Street Synagogue