From The Jewish Daily Forward:

"Many day schools are valued because they offer what is perceived to be a high-quality education, and that's not limited in appeal to Jews alone," said Jonathan Woocher, chief ideas officer at the Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA), an organization dedicated to strengthening Jewish education. Also, as with parochial Catholic schools, whose non-Catholic enrollment has increased in recent decades, the education at Jewish schools is "often offered at a price that is less than non-sectarian schools," Woocher said.

Read the full article in The Jewish Daily Forward...

Here's what the Western Mass Jewish Ledger has to say about JESNA board member Diane Troderman, & her husband Harold Grinspoon:

Harold Grinspoon and Diane Troderman

The list of Movers & Shakers would not be complete without Harold Grinspoon. He is a perpetual Mover & Shaker, whose innovative programs like PJ Library and B'nai Tzedek Youth Foundation continue to make a difference in the Jewish community, both here, and nationally.

In March, Grinspoon was the recipient of the Impact Awards of the 60th Annual National Jewish Book Awards of the Jewish Book Council, the longest-running North American awards program of its kind in the field of Jewish literature. Given annually, the awards are designed to recognize outstanding books on Jewish topics each year.
Grinspoon was honored for his commitment to Jewish literacy and growth through PJ Library, which he created to introduce children to Jewish literature and support them and their families on their Jewish journey. The PJ Library program sends nearly 70,000 Jewish children's books free to families with young children each month in more than 100 communities in North America. In May, Grinspoon personally hand-delivered the 2 millionth free PJ Library book to a family in Brooklyn. N.Y.

Always standing right next to Harold is his wife, Diane Troderman, who also made our list of Movers & Shakers. In June, she was honored by JESNA, Jewish Education Service of North America, at the organization's 30th anniversary gala for her "far-reaching influence in the Jewish philanthropic and educational world." Troderman is chair of the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE), former chairman of JESNA, a board member of PELIE (Partnership for Effective Learning and Innovative Education), a board member of the Davidson School at the Jewish Theological Seminary; and active with Hebrew At the Center. She sits on the boards of American Jewish World Service (AJWS), Hazon, and was a founding chairman of the Hadassah Brandeis Institute. She is a member of the HGF Board of Trustees.

Read the full article in The Western Mass Jewish Ledger...

From eJewishPhilanthropy:

by Andrea Rose Cheatham Kasper

In response to last year's Jewish Futures Conference competition on "prosumerism", the idea of Yadaim, the Academy of Applied Academics was born. To be clear it was an idea that was in the making for well over a year which crystallized in a competitive context. The competition asked the public to critically think about how co-creation of Judaism and Jewish education can manifest itself in innovative and dynamic ways which will capture the imagination of the public.

The trend of prosumerism is only one major trend we face today, another is a trend grounded in resourcefulness and utility, the ability to do things on our own. Prosumerism is the idea that people have evolved from simply being consumers to actively creating the world and experiences they seek. In the Jewish context, this means that Jews no longer look to an authority to tell them how to be Jewish nor through what traditions or practices, instead they are looking to collaborate and co-create a Judaism that is meaningful to them. By embracing this trend we evolve from being only intellectual creators of our world to actual creators of our world and experiences. By embracing this trend we move from a one dimensional focus on intellect to a fuller educational and Jewish conception of being God's partners in the physical, material/economic, spiritual and intellectual work of the world. It is the intersection of this trend with the unprecedented connectivity provided by technology that demands a prosumer response. Yet, as prosumerism is understood, there is no one public, it is not monolithic; rather it has over time and with the advent of new technologies broken into small, individualized and specialty groups. Jewish day school and Jewish high school leadership must respond to the increasing demand for individualized products by diversifying options.

Read the full article in eJewishPhilanthropy...

From RJ.org

by Dr. Jonathan Woocher

It was an honor for me to have been invited to kick off the Education Summit at the recent URJ Biennial, and gratifying to hear from so many participants that my remarks struck a responsive chord. That response, the huge number of people that attended the Summit, and the enthusiasm with which the Campaign for Youth Engagement was launched the next day all provided proof positive for the central thesis of my talk: a revolution in Jewish education is already underway; our job is to clearly articulate its premises, draw out its implications, support its vanguard, and spread its fruits as widely as we can to learners and educators across North America.

Not a small challenge, but based on the energy and ideas I saw and heard at the Biennial, an achievable one. Perhaps the greatest privilege of the work I now do is that I get to meet, learn from, and conspire with so many other "revolutionaries." I can tell you: they are everywhere throughout the Jewish education world. They are parents, they are youth, they are educators, they are institutional leaders, they are funders. What they all have in common is recognizing that we can do better – much better – than we are doing today, and that we need to.

Read the full article at RJ.org...