May 28, 2009 -- Recognizing the need for recruiting additional talented teachers to Jewish education, the Legacy Heritage Fund has partnered with Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women to create the Jewish Educators Project.

“We are immensely grateful to the Legacy Heritage Fund for its generosity and vision in helping us prepare talented women to become outstanding Jewish educators,” said The Dr. Monique C. Katz Dean of Stern College, Dr. Karen Bacon.

Beginning in the fall of 2009, Stern students committed to a career in Jewish education will be able to major in Jewish studies with a concentration in Jewish education. Known as Legacy Heritage Scholars, these students will receive full tuition support in the form of grants and forgivable loans for three years of undergraduate study at Stern College. Graduates who work in the field of Jewish education for three years will have their loans forgiven in full.

Through a competitive process, up to nine scholars will be selected for the next three years. Each scholar will be assigned a mentor to support her professional development during the first two years of her employment in Jewish education.

Deena Rabinovich--a respected educator and leader in the field of Jewish education--will direct the program. Rabinovich, an instructor in Bible at Stern College, has taught at Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls and was assistant principal at North Shore Hebrew Academy. She is a doctoral candidate at YU’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration and holds a master’s degree in English from New York University.

As director of the project, Rabinovich will develop new pedagogic courses and oversee the fieldwork, student teaching and mentoring portions of the program. She will also coordinate the program with the offerings at Azrieli Graduate School for students wishing to pursue advanced degrees.

Dean Bacon said the impact of the project would be far-reaching. “Ultimately the Legacy Heritage Fund, through this Jewish Educators Project, will elevate the caliber of instruction in Jewish schools nationwide, providing children with a new cadre of dynamic and creative teachers to enrich our educational systems and programs.”

Find out more about the Jewish Educators Project and its application process here.