Background

The Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards for Excellence in Jewish Education are designed to recognize teachers in communities across North America who have made a commitment to the field of Jewish education. The Awards honor outstanding classroom-based teachers in formal Jewish educational settings (early childhood through grade 12). Awards Winners are chosen through their central agency for Jewish education or, where no central agency exists, through their federation. The Awards were first established by the Grinspoon Foundation in 2000 and joined by the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life in 2002.

Eligibility

Nominees for the Awards must:

• Demonstrate exceptional achievement and serve as a role model in Jewish education

• Have a minimum of 3 years experience in the field

• Teach at least 6 hours per week in a Jewish day school or other formal Jewish educational setting (educators can fulfill the hour requirement in more than one institution)

• Be classroom-based Jewish educators in one of the following categories:

  • early childhood educator

  • day school teacher, grades K-12

  • congregational school teacher, grades K-12

Local communities may add additional criteria for eligibility; they may also include their own similar criteria from a pre-existing local award.Nominations of previous Grinspoon Awards and Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards recipients will not be considered.

Procedures

Nominations from local communities (excepting the Greater New York and Los Angeles Metropolitan areas) are limited to one (1) outstanding educator. Consideration of nominees will proceed on a first-come, first-reviewed basis to a maximum of 55 Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards winners.

Teachers may be nominated ONLY by their principal or school administrator. Nominations are then submitted to the local Central Agency for Jewish Education or, where no Central Agency exists, to the local Federation. Once the local community has selected their nominee(s) their final applications should be forwarded via email to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it where a National Awards Panel will confirm selection of the final recipients. While this Committee may seek additional information about a candidate before confirming his/her nomination, the judgment of each local selection committee is the most important criterion. Please note: JESNA will not compare candidates to one another.

Awards Benefits

The 2010 Awards offers national recognition and opportunities for professional development to its recipients, each of whom will be awarded a minimum of $2,000. There are several important and exciting changes to the Awards Program from years past.

The Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards professional development stipend in 2010 is $1,000. Each Winner must use this stipend for his or her own professional development within two years of receiving the Award.The remaining $1,000 is for use at the recipient's discretion.

In addition, the Awards Winners will be invited to engage in a new, North American Community of Practice (CoP) established through the generosity of the funders that replaces the national Awards Seminar and ceremony. The CoP will provide ongoing opportunities for Awards winners to participate in high-quality, ongoing of professional development through webinars with a cadre of outstanding educational professionals. These events will help Awards winners to network, to expand knowledge and skills, and to share expertise.

The Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards bring national recognition to local communities and their outstanding educators. JESNA will share guidance, ideas, and best practices with local communities to strengthen local awards ceremonies in the absence of the national ceremony.

2010 Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award Application Materials

Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award Application Instructions (55 kB)
Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award Application Part A (80.5 kB)
Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award Application Part B (86 kB)
Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award Application Part C (64 kB)
Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award Application Part D (137.5 kB)

Click the document below to see the communities that participate in the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards.

Map of Participating Communities (Updated)