A pair of Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School faculty members — Elana Weissman and Elissa Hozore — recently received the Kohelet Foundation’s $36,000 prize for Interdisciplinary Integration. The prize was for their leadership of last year’s Israel Fair at Beth Tfiloh Lower School.
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Weissman is a Lower School teacher, mentor and school counselor, while Hozore is a technology integration specialist.
“Each lower school class took on the study of a different landmark in Israel,” Weissman said. “Teachers used a variety of modalities to introduce their landmark to their students, and to spark students’ questions about its significance. After a week of research and inquiry, students chose what aspect they wanted to learn more about, developed questions to explore, and consulted with experts and specialists to delve into their inquiries.”
The Kohelet Prize is awarded annually to six educators or teams of educators who demonstrate exceptional accomplishments in one of the six core elements of progressive Jewish education. The division-wide, collaborative-learning project incorporated such curricular areas as history, geography, technology, science, art and Judaic studies.
The interactive projects represented 35 landmarks in Israel, including a replica of Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda shuk, or marketplace; recreations of the Chagall Windows at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center; a diorama of Kibbutz Yotvata in southern Israel; a replication of the Sea of Galilee’s drip irrigation system; and a reproduction of the Kotel, or Western Wall.
In addition, there was a recreation of a Bedouin tent in the Negev desert and promotional video about Ein Gedi, an oasis and nature reserve in central Israel.
Based in Narberth, Pa., the Kohelet Foundation supports Jewish communal endeavors and activities for day schools among parents, philanthropists, educators and the greater Jewish community.
Beth Tfiloh’s 2018 Lower School Israel Fair ended on April 27.
View some videos from the Israel Fair.
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