SNAPSHOTS FROM THE 2017 PRIZMAH JEWISH DAY SCHOOL CONFERENCE
THIS IS A STORY ABOUT...
A JEWISH DAY SCHOOL CONFERENCE One that we dreamed would be like no other. One that met current needs and inspired dreams about what could be true for our schools. Our inaugural conference celebrated YOU—school leaders, lay leaders, and everyone who champions Jewish education on a daily basis.
OUR SINCEREST THANKS To everyone who attended, shared, and invested in their own professional growth. Deepening your own learning to strengthen your school and community is an incredible committment. Flip through the pages ahead to see the various ways in which conference attendees came together.
THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING…
THE PLAYGROUND What’s possible when we create a hub for interactive engagement, out-of-the-box exploration, and viewing what’s new and next in learning innovation? A space that invites attendees to leave conventional thinking about how we learn at the door, and dive into new modalities with a sense of wonder and play.
FOR MANY, THE PLAYGROUND REVEALED TWO TRUTHS ABOUT INNOVATION ONE: Innovation is a process, not a product. Innovation isn’t a tool or app; those “products” were created in response to problems and can be used in innovative and non-innovative ways. Innovation is, most of all, a mindset that begins with asking: What are the challenges that need solving, and what are some ideas for possible solutions?
TWO: To be truly innovative, schools need to share works-in-progress with one another. Energy is wasted when each school recreates the wheel in response to similar challenges.
CREATIVECONNECTION When we thought of “The Power of Story” theme, we had much more than the written and spoken word in mind. So we invited the UK-based sketch-noting firm, CreativeConnection, to cross the pond and illustrate the stories and themes that brought this conference to life. These illustrations served as a visual mirror that reflect back participants’ insights from the conference.
THE SECOND CITY WORKS We know that no matter what your role is in your day school community, you need the most effective leadership dispositions and skills to do your best work. Building on the brilliance of what our host city had to offer, we brought The Second City Works (SCW) to share with attendees the techniques and frameworks that they teach to the leaders of Fortune 500 companies and nonprofit organizations around the world. Turns out that the same techniques and skills used by highly successful improv groups such as The Second City contribute to success in organizational leadership! SCW facilitators taught us how to become more comfortable with being uncomfortable and provided opportunities to experience the effects of the “Yes, And�philosophy to build well-networked, creative, and productive teams. Their teaching also integrated and enhanced our learning around the conference theme, including sharpening our storytelling skills to engage audiences with messages that stick. The SCW experience closed with a hilarious performance that combined a series of comedy sketches and improvised skits focused particularly on the rewards, realities, and challenges of Jewish day school lay and professional leadership, and even included a special conference song!
JANE MCGONIGAL From her incredible stories of the Pokemon Go phenomenon and of the New York Public Library’s game Find the Future, keynote speaker Dr. Jane McGonigal distilled three critical characteristics for us to think about as we imagine and dream about teaching and learning in our school communities: What opportunities exist for on-demand chances for students to succeed? What if collaboration was built into the fabric of our school communities? What is possible when we give students the opportunity to figure out the challenge together? Dr. McGonigal’s research on gaming and neuroscience helped us imagine an environment designed to supercharge the neurochemistry that makes challenge fun and curiosity about the world around us insatiable.
EXCURSIONS What is possible when we step out of our traditional learning environments and engage with the world around us? Ask any of the 100 people who signed up to take part in the excursions at the Prizmah Jewish Day School Conference! Our excursions gave conference goers the opportunity to step out of the hotel and experience some of the best educational resources available in Chicago. We visited three schools with a national reputation: the Chicago Lab Schools, Academy for Global Citizenship, and Gan Gani, a Hebrew immersion preschool. Others discovered the archeological treasures of the Oriental Institute and learned about some of the the architectural masterpieces in downtown Chicago.
TEACHER DAY 75 teachers from Chicago Jewish day schools gathered together on Sunday morning for breakfast and the chance to join roundtable discussions. These discussions were led by 20 teachers who came prepared to impart successful strategies and tools they use every day to help their students share the stories of their learning. They also had the chance to hear from acclaimed educational blogger A.J. Juliani, who talked about how he is “helping students climb their own mountains.” Special thanks to the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago for their generous sponsorship of Teacher Day.
A TASTE OF COACHING Complimentary one-on-one sessions with Prizmah’s coaches enabled attendees to bring their most pressing challenges and questions and receive individualized guidance in the areas of: board effectiveness, enhanced teaching & learning, enrollment, executive coaching, institutional advancement, school culture, and much more! All of our coaching slots filled almost immediately, and we are eager to meet the continued demand for coaching support and consultation. Be on the lookout for future Taste of Coaching pop-up opportunities that will be coming soon.
NETWORKING What’s possible when a thousand colleagues seek to exchange expertise and build connections with others who share similar roles? This conference was designed to facilitate connections within the learning constellations, throughout the meals, during receptions, in the Playground and Beit Midrash, and, of course, in the informal gatherings throughout every moment of the conference. To encourage networking and cohort building, we recruited leaders in the field to host several role-alike and program-based meetup opportunities. The conference also hosted gatherings for our Yeshiva Day School, Pardes, RAVSAK, and Schechter Affinity Groups during which conference participants grappled with issues specific to their schools’ community outlook. Meals and conference sessions were spent building connections with colleagues who share similar roles. Heads of school, admission professionals, development professionals, and early childhood educators gathered together to discuss opportunities and challenges and imagine opportunities for partnership. Judaic administrators of all stripes came together to focus on project/problem/passion-based learning in the Judaic curriculum. Middle school professionals engaged over student behavior, sharing success stories around implementation of codes and policies, and the effects of advisory groups within their schools. Learning specialists, working together with Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, shared strategies for supporting students with a range of learning needs. Heads of large schools and leaders of schools in small Jewish communities made time to speak with their peers about the different skill sets required to address the needs of their unique school structures and support their faculty and staff. We also offered cohort-based meetups for participants in our YOU Lead, HoSPEP, Governance & Fundraising Academy (GFA), Generations, and Atideinu programs.
Please join one of our twenty networking groups to continue the work that you started at the conference -- or if you missed the conference, join the momentum and move these conversations into plans of action today. Questions? Contact DebraS@Prizmah.org.
LAY LEADER, FEDERATION, AND FOUNDATION BREAKFAST At the Lay Leader, Federation, and Foundation Breakfast, philanthropists, and federation representatives had the opportunity to connect with each other and intensively explore some of the biggest challenges they face. They also examined how they could strengthen their ability to play a role in supporting their school’s mission. Experienced and new-tothe-field lay leaders collaborated with one another on topics that include the following: the relationships between schools and their federations, head-of-school evaluation and support, stewarding the Jewish mission of their schools, navigating the line between the work of the lay leader and school professional, mentoring new board members, and fostering healthy board chair-head of school relationships.
“The Prizmah conference - and particularly its programming for lay leaders - was enormously valuable to me in my role as a board member of our community Jewish day school. The programming was comprehensive, providing everything from big-picture overviews of board governance, to concrete guidance on how to forge a strong board/head-of-school partnership. I also appreciated the sessions that shared data-driven and research-based insights, and valued learning how such tools might be able to enhance our own school’s work (particularly in the areas of recruitment and retention). Finally, I deeply appreciated Prizmah’s support for my attendance. It takes a village to support and run a Jewish day school, and I think our schools stand to benefit greatly by giving lay leaders the chance to be educated and informed by the deeply talented and thoughtful professionals Prizmah brings together.” - Alexandra Schimmer, Co-Vice President, Columbus Jewish Day School
PRIZMAH:
Center for Jewish Day Schools 254 W. 54th Street New York, NY 10019 646.975.2800
www.prizmah.org @Prizmah
hello@prizmah.org
Prizmah:CJDS
Prizmah:CJDS