Shari Rothstein started as the Director of Congregational Learning at Temple Sholom of West Essex in New Jersey in 2019. While her goal was to spend the first year understanding the program without making too many changes, the pandemic hit nine months into her tenure.
Struggling to Adapt to Covid Realities
Most of Temple Sholom’s teachers took a traditional approach to religious school relying on books. It quickly became clear that the majority of teachers weren’t equipped for online learning. As a small congregation, they didn’t have the resources to do take-home bags and other solutions that some congregations pivoted to during COVID-19. As Shari explained, “We pieced it together for the end of 2020 but I knew we had to make a change.”
Looking for a Long-Term Solution
With the uncertainty of when in-person school would be a reality again, Shari sought out a solution that could work for the new school year regardless of how it was taught. She started researching online curricula, knowing that she did not want to change the program mid-year if they were able to get back into the classroom.
She heard about ShalomLearning from a trusted colleague, who told her, “Hands down, no question, this is what you should do, it will meet all your needs.”
Shari “loved the idea of a plug-and-play curriculum written by experienced educators so I could trust what’s happening in the classroom.” Based on her peers’ feedback, she knew ShalomLearning had the skills, experience, and credentials to put together a high-quality, engaging program.
The versatility of the curriculum was a huge benefit. While Temple Sholom was eager to get students back in the classroom, she understood that it was possible kids would come back only to go back online if COVID-19 surged again.
They ended up using the curriculum online for a year before going back to in-person school. The consistency of the curriculum helped both the students and teachers make a difficult situation work.
Benefits Beyond Covid
Even before COVID-19, Shari found it difficult to find teachers. Sometimes she found teachers who had a love for Judaism but didn’t necessarily have teaching experience. They want to make learning Jewish traditions and values fun and joyful, but they don’t know how to craft a lesson. It was always a lot of work to help them create activities and write curricula.
ShalomLearning makes it easy by providing the material and instructions on multiple ways to teach it in an engaging and meaningful way. Shari found the investment in ShalomLearning to be far more beneficial than buying books. She says, “The curriculum helps make teachers who aren’t professionally trained as teachers more successful. ShalomLearning makes lessons active, engaging, and fun.”
And since the curriculum provides so many choices on how to teach a lesson, it still provides teachers with control and autonomy. It also provides the Temple with the flexibility to confidently expand who they can hire. Shari recently hired a paraprofessional who had never taught his own class. “I couldn’t have hired him if I didn’t have this curriculum.”
As Shari walks around the school, she can personally see that “kids are engaged, participating, laughing, and having a good time.”
Part of a Community
Beyond the curriculum, Shari feels like she’s part of the ShalomLearning family. “Whenever I’ve needed something, ShalomLearning has been available.” After October 7, the congregation wanted to emphasize the importance of Israel. Shari was concerned trying to find the relevant parts of every lesson would be tough, but she contacted ShalomLearning and they sent her a summary of exactly where she could pull Israel content from every lesson.
ShalomLearning has been a responsive, supportive partner and Shari appreciates that they take the time to upgrade, revamp, and revise the curriculum so it’s never stale or static. On their own, Temple Sholom simply wouldn’t have the resources to do that. As part of the ShalomLearning family, they get extras like the new Jewish Unity and Pride lessons.
Learn more about ShalomLearning
If your teachers need more support, structure, and ideas for making lessons more interactive and engaging, check out our free resources or contact us to chat. ShalomLearning can help make Jewish education relevant, meaningful, affordable, and accessible to everyone.
