By Abby Kass
Coming to a new school can lead to many different feelings, such as nervousness, excitement, and anticipation. TLS students and many high school students can relate to this, as starting high school can bring forth this mixture of feelings. The new faculty members starting this year at TLS feel no different as the start of the new school year gets them thinking about their new environment, as well as what their teachings can bring to TLS’s Kehilah.
Rabbi Adam Cohen, TLS’s new Rabbi-in-Residence, spent many years teaching both in the classroom and outside of it. He believes that both of these means of teaching allow him to provide a Jewish education to students.
“Moving to Sydney for my 20s, and working at Moriah College, gave me some very special insights of how a Jewish school can give students incredible, experiential Jewish experiences, while still achieving academic success,” Cohen said. “Shabbatons and trips to Israel/Poland, are a wonderful reminder for the world of education that students can be more open to personal growth when the education is taking place beyond the four walls of the classroom.”
Besides the difference in experience with teaching in and out of the classroom, there is also a difference between being a teacher in a new environment vs. in a familiar environment.
“Coming to a new school, you need to be humble,” Cohen said. “And realize you will see whole new perspectives on education you can learn from…while balancing this with looking for ways that you can uniquely contribute to making things even better.”
Brian McCleery, one of TLS’s new history teachers, taught in public school as well as in an international school, where he began to learn by way of involving himself in different cultures. Like the many cultures he absorbed information from, he believes that history is intricate and all-around interesting, which is why he teaches it.
“History and social studies is the study of the world’s most incomprehensible topic: humanity and human decisions,” McCleery said. “We turn away from examining ourselves at our own peril. The story of humanity is more complex, nuanced, frustrating, epic, and dramatic than any fiction could hope to achieve.”
The world of education is a constant learning process, which continues even in a new environment, such as a new school.
“Education is so dynamic and interpersonal that everyone (students and teachers) are always trying to adapt and keep up,” McCleery said. “There are no sages that have it all figured out. We are all on the same journey to continually improve and discover.”
Rebecca Zinger [or Dean Z as many refer to her], the new 10th-grade dean, studied social work when she was in school, and most recently taught at the Columbia School of Social Work. One of her core values is being curious by asking more questions to truly get to know someone.
“I feel like my value is just to be curious and not make people feel judged,” Zinger said. “People will feel how they want to feel regardless of what your intentions are, but giving people the opportunity to have [a] breath is really nice.”
One of Zinger’s fun features about her office is her “snack shack”, a variety of snacks that students get to choose from, but there’s a catch: you have to do something related to the snack to receive it. For example, tell a joke for a Laffy Taffy. Zinger does this to see a side of students when they’re outside of the classroom, and to get to connect to them.
“In my whole career, any job I’ve ever gone into, it’s because I want to connect to people in a very intimate and meaningful way,” Zinger said. “And, I want to connect people to other people in that way. Every opportunity to talk to a person is to really peel back. If someone is like ‘Hey Dean Z, can I have a candy?’, that’s why I ask for a joke. Because if someone is coming here, I don’t know if they’re coming in to really just get sugar and leave, which is fine, or if they’re coming in here to connect in some way.”
Growing up, Zinger felt fulfilled when she was listening to people and being a helper in that way. This is one of the main reasons she studied social work and why she wants to be a dean towards TLS students.
“Social work is literally action and even one conversation, one connection, can change the view of one person,” Zinger said. “So, as much as a history lesson can blow someone’s mind and then make them want to study more about history, a social interaction, validating, [and] helping someone through a process, can change the whole game.”
Stay tuned for our next article about our new faculty. We will talk to Laura Tobin in the history department, Terry Shaw in the math department, and Bex Stern Rosenblatt in the Tanakh department.
