Austin area religious school educators at the City-Wide Teacher In-Service at Shalom Austin on October 20, 2022. Credit: Alachua Haskins

By Rachel Stern

On Thursday, October 20, 2022, teachers from local Austin synagogue religious schools gathered together for an evening of learning and community. In-services aim to give teachers the chance to get to know each other and to gain important skills that they can use in the classroom.

The in-service was planned by the Educators’ Council which includes Rachel Stern and Alachua Haskins of Shalom Austin, Emily Yaf of Congregation Tiferet Israel, Zoe Miller of Congregation Agudas Achim, Carly Cera of Congregation Beth Israel, Jordan Magidson of Temple Beth Shalom, Rabbi Rebecca Reice of Congregation Shir Ami and Megan Freedman of Congregation Beth El. The educators meet regularly and have become close colleagues and offer each other support and resources. The teacher in-service is an extension of that work and the relationships that exist among the congregations.

This year, the theme of the in-service was “seeing the whole person,” recognizing students’ varying needs, especially at a time when many of them are feeling the effects of COVID isolation and change. Shalom Austin’s Chief Social Services Officer Rabbi Amy B. Cohen offered the keynote address and the teachers were then able to choose one of the following electives: process art; experience first text study; “welcome back” culture/inclusion; or self-paced Hebrew.

All of the electives as well as the opening and closing of the program were run by the Educators’ Council. The teachers left inspired, feeling connected to each other, and ready to bring new ideas into their classrooms. The evening was even more special as H-E-B generously donated kosher meals for all of the teachers as a show of their appreciation and support.