BJE’s Annual Gala recognizes our own Randi Sher together with other heads of Jewish schools in LA

On February 5, 2021, BJE: Builders of Jewish Education will hold its annual Gala. This year, BJE will recognize Randi Sher and celebrate heads of Jewish schools across Los Angeles who have worked tirelessly during this pandemic.

The BJE Out of the Box Gala will recognize the extraordinary work happening under the leadership of the directors of early childhood centers, part-time religious schools and day schools, and the money raised will enable BJE to continue to provide meaningful support to schools, educators, students and parents, particularly at a time when the needs created by the pandemic are profound.

We will be honoring Randi Sher at Friday night services on February 5th, in honor of her recognition from BJE. In the short time Randi has been a part of the TBE community, she has proved herself to be a real Builder of Jewish education. She works hard to make Jewish education accessible to each family, including students with different learning needs and backgrounds. Randi demonstrates that by providing different learning and teaching modalities, all students can be achievers and learn to love their Judaic studies. Randi is not a bystander; she gets right in the instructional setting and participates where appropriate, supporting her teaching staff and consistently providing them with current curricular information. Randi relates to the parents and demonstrates a keen sense of the importance of keeping them informed and asking them to participate as needed. There is a real esprit de corps among all the stakeholders making student success, parental satisfaction, and teacher support all achievable. In response to COVID, she diligently looked at Torah School hours, sought parent input about their concerns and expectations, and demonstrably recreated our curriculum delivery to address this pandemic and its effects upon education. She strove to balance community connection with rich Jewish content, offering a balanced curriculum that includes Hebrew, holidays, Jewish values, Torah, and prayer. A weekly t’filah  (prayer) experience helps nurture a sense of community, and weekly chugs allow us to bring in artistic, musical, holiday experiences, and other Jewish engagement modalities.

It has been imperative that our learning and teaching community’s relational nature continue to reflect the warm, enriching, and positive nature of our Jewish educational experiences here at Temple Beth-El. Randi’s leadership and her strong collaborative style with our clergy result in the best outcome for our temple family. We continue to adapt and develop innovative ways to meet our families’ needs, and we look forward to the day when we can embrace and learn in person once more.