As the 5-8 Learning Communities Director, I sit in on teachers’ team meetings, and I try to get there at least 5-10 minutes early each week. Now during our remote learning period, I enter the Zoom meetings before they officially begin, and I usually luck out -- I catch a funny story or I try to help problem-solve a technology issue. If I am really lucky, I hear a snippet from a teacher’s personal life. What feels like years ago, when we were still in our beautiful building, one of my favorite parts of the day was heating up our lunches together in a shared workspace before a meeting - a sacred time before getting down to work, when colleagues laughed, shared stories, and caught up with one another.
Connection and community are what make Hillel Day School special. The way we care for one another and for our students. One Judaic Studies teacher and advisor in the 7-8 learning community dropped off a small package before Passover to each of her advisees (from 6 feet away, of course). When I told her I was inspired and touched by her actions, her response melted my heart even more: She explained that it felt good to see her students’ faces and wave to them, even just for a minute, because she misses them so much. To be a full-time teacher, raising her own three young kids during a pandemic, and to still have such a connection to your advisees that you make and deliver packages to all of them - this is what makes Hillel teachers different from their peers.
Our teachers are working beyond overtime right now. They don’t arrive at 7:00 a.m. or leave at 4:00 p.m. They are always available to students. And with the pivot towards new tech tools to deliver the curriculum, our veteran teachers are consistently saying, “I feel like a first-year teacher again!” And they are. This is a whole new world for educators - and children and parents, too.
Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, Hillel teachers continue to ensure that students feel safe and cared for, and above all, that they are learning and growing each day. When a student doesn’t show up for class, teachers email, text, and call them. When a student isn’t turning in work, teachers set up Google Hangouts to make sure the assignment is understood, and how to submit it electronically. Our teams have created individual work plans, checklists to print at home, daily reminders, and the list goes on. Our student support team is calling students to make sure they’re ready for class in the morning, checking in again each afternoon to make sure they can manage their time and assignments, and they’re offering socially distanced walks, just to make sure everyone is OK.
And the kids! They’re taking such good care of one another. When someone can’t find the Google link to a meeting or assignment, they’re texting it to their classmate right away. They’re FaceTiming to collaborate, or to help each other with school work, or simply to check in with each other. They’re leading tefillot in the morning, their neshamot shining through their prayers and smiles. This is who we continue to teach them to be -- a positive presence among their friends, family, and community even during challenging times. I have no doubt that my colleagues and our students will continue to be an inspiration, and to serve as examples of courage and kindness, and of Jewish living, now and in the future.
