CAJE Professionals Walk the Walk
Posted on 06/28/2024 @ 06:00 AM
Yehudis Smith, CAJE Director of Early Childhood & Congregational Education (4th from left, back row) with colleagues at the AJU Brandeis-Bardin Campus.
You’ve heard the phrase: “This is someone that talks the talk but does not walk the walk.” It means the person doesn’t act in a way that agrees with the things they say.
One of the cornerstones of CAJE’s philosophy is the importance of professional development in Jewish education. Every school year, CAJE through its staff invests deeply in professional development opportunities for educators in the Jewish early childhood centers, day schools, and congregational programs across Miami-Dade.
But investment in professional development doesn’t stop at our work with others.
CAJE’s senior educator staff partakes in regular learning and training that strengthens our positions as experts in the field, thus increasing our abilities to effect change and impact the educational communities we serve.
Last month, Yehudis Smith, CAJE’s Director of Early Childhood Education, spent a week in Los Angeles, California, at the beautiful Brandeis-Bardin campus deeply entrenched in learning.
Together with 8 other early childhood educators, Yehudis was chosen to be part of the first cohort of American Jewish University’s Early Childhood Educational Leadership doctoral program (EdD).
Led by Dr. Tamar Andrews and Dr. Bruce Powell, this doctoral program -- deepening early childhood education through a Jewish lens-- is the first of its kind in the entire world.
This makes Yehudis and her fellow educators trail blazers in the field of Jewish Early Childhood Education (ECE).
Yehudis and the other cohort members had the incredible opportunity to connect with each other while learning from their EdD professors – all giants in the field of early childhood education, Jewish philosophy, and child development.
Some of these experts in the field include master educators:
- Dr. Rabbi Meir Muller: Tenured professor at the University of South Carolina and founder of the Cutler Jewish day school
- Dr. Bruce Powell: Dean of the School for Jewish Education and Leadership at AJU, founder of 3 high schools including Yeshiva University of Los Angeles, published author, winner of the Covenant Award and others
- Dr. Tamar Andrews: Director of Early Childhood Education Programs at AJU, ECE consultant and trainer
- Dr. Noah Hichenberg: Preschool director at the Gan HaYeled Preschool in Washington D.C.
- Dr. Erika Bocknek: family therapist
We are excited to see how Yehudis brings her learning to the Jewish early childhood community in Miami-Dade and effectively “walks the walk!”
To learn more, contact Yehudis Smith at yehudissmith@caje-miami.org
