Dr. Winter’s New Role as Judaic Studies Principal
Becoming the Judaic Studies (JS) Principal for the AJA High School was not a role Dr. Rebecca Winter was expecting to fill. Between her practice as a Psychology Associate at the Behavioral Institute of Atlanta LLC and her active role as a Chumash teacher in AJA’s High School, Dr. Winter’s plate was already full. Still, her love for the high school and its students encouraged her to take an active role in the planning and execution of the Judaic curriculum.
Dr. Winter’s excitement surrounding “Jewish education in general” and “level[ing] up” AJA’s Judaic studies, alongside recommendations from fellow community members, prompted her decision to accept her new administrative role. Now in the role, she hopes to think of ways to impact the Judaic curriculum and ensure teachers are “more mindful” in making full use of the class time provided “in a way that’s both serious and meaningful for our students.”
Despite Dr. Winter’s familiarity with teachers and the school environment (having been an AJA teacher for many years), the lack of a clear leadership in the Judaic Studies department in the last two years has impacted her outlook on her new position. Despite its ramifications, Dr. Winter feels that Judaic Studies staff generally acclimated to this shortage. Teachers took on new responsibilities, like Night Seder, Tefillah, and Shabbatons, that otherwise would have belonged to the head of the department. In coming into her new role, Dr. Winter hopes to continue to delegate responsibilities because it allows the department’s staff to “lean into each other’s strengths” and perfect the activities they direct, instead of relying on a person, who is already “splintered” by many other responsibilities, to accomplish it all.
On the other hand, the leadership circumstances over the years have not given Dr. Winter “a clear role model” to imitate. It has also created a “learning curve” for teachers who have gotten used to not checking in with a team leader or working as a team in this way. Still, she feels that for the most part, the faculty is on board with the more mindful approach Dr. Winter hopes to take on.
“Beyond fulfilling Judaic coursework requirements, Dr. Winter believes that students should feel that they are “moving forward” in their Jewish learning.”
To inspire the Judaics department changes Dr. Winter hopes to achieve, she has set three major goals. First, she wants to make Jewish texts more accessible to students. She is dedicated to helping each student not only feel confident when reading Jewish texts but also understand that these works are not just reserved for skilled Rabbis and teachers. Secondly, Dr. Winter hopes for “an increase in content,” so that students will graduate knowing more about Judaism in general which will be helpful for their future careers or studies and any path they take simply by increasing their knowledge. Lastly, Dr. Winter wants to motivate students to think about how their Judaic studies “enhance[s]” or relates to their personal lives. She noticed students “demanding more now” from their Judaic studies classes and doing so “in a positive way.” Dr. Winter and Judaics teachers want to “rise to that occasion” by making Judaics class time more meaningful. Beyond fulfilling Judaic coursework requirements, students should feel that they are “moving forward” in their Jewish learning.
With these goals in mind, Dr. Winter welcomes recent changes in the attitudes of teachers in the Judaics Department itself. For instance, over the summer, Dr. Winter felt that the teachers were coming together in support of “a more intentional curriculum.” Instead of each teacher choosing to teach different subjects, the staff implements greater consistency in their teachings across the department, while maintaining the distinctions of each educators’ teaching styles. Dr. Winter is particularly interested in creating a more solidified curriculum across the high school, so students build upon skills and lessons from year to year and will not feel like they are “circling…the same concepts” repeatedly. The approach will incorporate repetition and review, while also “upping the ante” or building on concepts over time. Over the course of the next year or two, Dr. Winter plans to inform parents and students alike of the intentionality of the curriculum and the direction the high school will take.
Though Dr. Winter has balanced working two jobs while at AJA in the past, her new added responsibilities drive her to get more creative with how she deals with all her obligations. To ensure she has sufficient time to divide between her psychology practice and AJA and that she is not forced to travel between workplaces all day, as she has in the past, she blocked out specific times for each position. For now, she plans to take advantage of the time she “didn’t realize [she] had” before. For instance, ensuring that she is compliant with patient-doctor confidentiality regulations and with no one else in the car, Dr. Winter has learned that the 20 or so minutes when commuting is “valuable time” for consults. Instead of listening to a podcast, she discovered that using the time to consult with a neurologist or psychiatrist or complete one of her continuing education (CE) classes allows her to knock out one more task on her lengthy to-do list.
Dr. Winter’s relationship with others outside of school has also changed since accepting her new role. Her close friendship with 1st-8th Grade Judaic and Experiential Coordinator Rabbi Tzvi Urkowitz gives her hope that she’ll be able to create a smooth transition for students coming in from AJA’s middle school. Since she’s already had many conversations with Rabbi Tzvi about this topic outside of the school setting, it’s been a “very easy” transition to communicating with him more formally about how “the middle school curriculum is going to become a trajectory toward the high school,” so students can build upon their Judaic learning from the middle school to the high school. Rather than her previous teaching position with the ability to interact with students for a year or two, Dr. Winter’s new administrative position gives her the opportunity to make an impact on students’ present and future learning.
Comments are closed.