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\u2019s High School, Dr. Winter\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Winter\u2019s excitement surrounding \u201cJewish education in general\u201d and \u201clevel[ing] up\u201d AJA\u2019s 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 \u201cmore mindful\u201d in making full use of the class time provided \u201cin a way that\u2019s both serious and meaningful for our students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite Dr. Winter\u2019s 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\u2019s staff to \u201clean into each other\u2019s strengths\u201d and perfect the activities they direct, instead of relying on a person, who is already \u201csplintered\u201d by many other responsibilities, to accomplish it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, the leadership circumstances over the years have not given Dr. Winter \u201ca clear role model\u201d to imitate. It has also created a \u201clearning curve\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201can increase in content,\u201d 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 \u201cenhance[s]\u201d or relates to their personal lives. She noticed students \u201cdemanding more now\u201d from their Judaic studies classes and doing so \u201cin a positive way.\u201d Dr. Winter and Judaics teachers want to \u201crise to that occasion\u201d by making Judaics class time more meaningful. Beyond fulfilling Judaic coursework requirements, students should feel that they are \u201cmoving forward\u201d in their Jewish learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201ca more intentional curriculum.\u201d 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\u2019 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 \u201ccircling\u2026the same concepts\u201d repeatedly. The approach will incorporate repetition and review, while also \u201cupping the ante\u201d 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201cdidn\u2019t realize [she] had\u201d 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 \u201cvaluable time\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Winter\u2019s 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\u2019ll be able to create a smooth transition for students coming in from AJA\u2019s middle school. Since she\u2019s already had many conversations with Rabbi Tzvi about this topic outside of the school setting, it\u2019s been a \u201cvery easy\u201d transition to communicating with him more formally about how \u201cthe middle school curriculum is going to become a trajectory toward the high school,\u201d 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\u2019s new administrative position gives her the opportunity to make an impact on students’ present and future learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dr. Winter\u2019s New Role as Judaic Studies Principal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":2446,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Dr. Winter (left) teaching with Moreh Liel Dar at freshman orientation \/\/ Photo by AJA Marketing","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","entry","rows"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/454973254_1019665710165310_8847608716565666498_n.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2354"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2404,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2354\/revisions\/2404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
“Beyond fulfilling Judaic coursework requirements, Dr. Winter believes that students should feel that they are \u201cmoving forward\u201d in their Jewish learning.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n