Director’s Dialogue: Stephanie Tankel

Among the recent renovations we have been blessed to make at the Julia P. Bindeman Suburban Center is an updated space celebrating educators who served our community for at least 18 years. As we contemplated that tribute, we reflected on just how unique it is for a community to even need such a thing! What an unbelievable demonstration of WHC’s commitment to education.

As we prepare for the coming school year, I am humbled by the wisdom, care, grace, and dynamism our teachers bring to this sacred work. Whether in our Early Childhood Centers or Religious School, WHC’s educators are lifelong learners, committed to their personal growth and improvement just as they are dedicated to the growth of each child.

In addition to their skills, our school programs have educators who care deeply for one another. They function as a team, celebrating individual milestones, cheering one another on, and supporting each other in the face of adversity.

Most communities are not blessed with this type of team.

Most schools do not have this type of atmosphere.

Most programs do not support their educators in the myriad ways that help make a very challenging (and rewarding) job feel like a “home.”

Most communities take their educators for granted — even if unintentionally.

When we designed the JBSC space honoring educators, we included the following quote from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, “What we need more than anything else is not textbooks, but text people. It is the personality of the teacher which is the text that the pupils read: the text that they will never forget.”

Sixteen years ago, when I was hired by Rabbi Joui Hessel to work in the Religious School, I could see that this community was different from others. From the day I began, I could feel the community’s respect, gratitude, and love of the education teams. Each and every department — including our clergy —  work in collaboration with the schools to deepen connections, elevate programming, and honor teachers and children.

This is still the case today. I am proud and humbled to prioritize this culture within our schools.

It elevates the quality of our programs, helping them stand out and modeling the values we embody to our families and children.

Years ago, we began including a story from the Talmud in each teachers’ contract to signal our gratitude and recognition:

A group of important rabbis was sent from place to place to encourage education and establish schools. These rabbis came to a town and didn’t see any examples of children learning or any teachers. The rabbis called the people of the town together and asked them to produce the guardians, the keepers of the city. The city council members were brought forward. “These are not the guardians of the city,” the rabbis exclaimed. “Who are the guardians of the city?” asked the people. And the rabbis answered, “The teachers are the guardians of the city.”

Our teachers and educators are the guardians of WHC. We are proud to be their “home” and cannot wait to celebrate their hard work, dedication, and the beauty of their sacred craft throughout the coming year.

If you are interested in discussing opportunities to help us celebrate our educators, please reach out! Or… if you just want to talk about education, I LOVE doing that! Please do not be shy. Send me an email at stankel@whctemple.org and we will connect.

---