Dr. Betsy Dolgin Katz leads session on adult Jewish learning at the First Jewish Education Leadership Summit

February, 2004-Dr. Betsy Dolgin Katz, North American Director of the Mini-School was among 300 Jewish education leaders who gathered in Fort Lauderdale, February 8-10, 2004 at the first Jewish Education Leadership Summit, convened by JESNA, to tackle the challenge of recruiting and retaining great Jewish educators.

Among the participants were front-line educators, organizational heads, lay activists, and nationally-prominent philanthropists, including Charles Bronfman, Michael Steinhardt, Harold Grinspoon, Laura Lauder, and Susan Crown. "The turnout was beyond our most optimistic expectations," said Diane Troderman, who co-chaired the Summit with Laura Lauder and Arnee Winshall. "It's clear evidence that the goal of pursuing excellence in Jewish education by building a cadre of outstanding educators resonates with a wide spectrum of leadership. That's enormously encouraging."

Summit participants were actively engaged in working sessions throughout the event. Dr. Katz led led the nine-hour track on adult Jewish learning. According to Betsy "We were given a clear charge to formulate specific, actionable plans to attract talented people into the field of Jewish education and to change the culture of the field to ensure that these individuals receive the professional development, support, recognition, and remuneration that will enable them to grow and thrive as educators."

The outcome after three intense days was more than two-dozen concrete ideas for strengthening educator recruitment, development and retention. In the area of adult learning these included the creation of professional development opportunities for Jewish professionals who teach or administer adult Jewish education, developing pre-service education in colleges and universities, strengthening the Alliance for Adult Jewish Learning, and the expansion of participation of leadership in Jewish learning to encourage support of all Jewish education endeavors.

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