Professional Staff
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Executive Director
Welcome to Temple Beth Am on the web! We take pride in being Broward County's largest award-winning Conservative synagogue. We are fortunate to have an outstanding professional staff, exceptional membership and countless volunteers whose combined efforts ensure the success of our many programs. We can now boast that we are Broward County's only "shul with a pool", and have recently consecrated our new Youth & Recreation Center. Although we are approaching our 50th year, we are a relatively new synagogue in terms of our current structure and character. This gives us the opportunity to continue to grow and change, and to be responsive to the educational, social and human needs of our membership and the Jewish community. Please feel free to stop by the office for a 'grand tour' of our campus. Shalom!
Sandee Galfond, F.T.A., F.S.A.
Executive Director
Religious School Principal
We are proud to have won the 2005 International Solomon Schechter Gold Award For Excellence in elementary education from United Synagogue of America. This was the third time we have earned a Gold and have earned a silver award, as well. The Rabbi Solomon Geld Religious School is proud to present its 2005-2006 program.
Our veteran teaching staff has over 160 years of combined teaching experience. Seventy percent of our teachers have been with the school for 5 years or more; Thirty percent for 10 or more years. Much of the program has proven to be successful through the years. I add 34 years of experience in Jewish education to our presentation and am working with teacher teams on each grade level in streamlining segments of our curriculum and activities.
The school emphasizes Hebrew reading and knowledge of the recitation and meaning of our prayers to God. Jewish practice in the form of various "mitzvot" are presented and experienced. From Jewish life cycle events & holidays to social action, we cover a full range of experiential activity in and out of the classroom, involving families as the learning experience unfolds on all levels. Ethics and Jewish thought through Torah and Jewish social studies are covered at all levels. The centrality of Israel and our unbreakable bond with our brethren, both in the Diaspora and in the land of Israel, is a common theme experienced by our students.
This approach mines from the three pillars of Judaism (Torah, G-d and Israel). It develops by adding the element of the importance of Family. This T.G.I.F. (Torah, G-d, Israel and Family) formula is practiced by our professional staff and presented to students and parents in a friendly, fun and practical way. All school families are encouraged to experience the beauty of our heritage with their children.
We are also proud to be an ETGAR middle school. This is a cutting edge experimental program that is supported by the Jewish Theological Seminary's Melton Research Center and the United Synagogue's education department. We enter our third year of the pilot program and have experienced many positive learning opportunities through the presentation of ETGAR.
Our Gimmel and Daled classes enjoy a program called the Jewish Life Experience Encounters (JLEE) Garin (Seedling) program©. Students and their families spend time with other families and selected empty-nesters and seniors in our shul. This time includes holiday, Shabbat and social action activities in and out of the synagogue. This program would not be possible without a grant from the Crown Family Grants of the Jewish Community Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Broward County.
Another program funded under the rubric of JLEE© and the Crown Family Grants is the 7th Grade Bar/Bat Mitzvah program. This program will involve our bar/bat mitzvah students with senior members of the shul. They will pray together, spend time interviewing each other and travel together to the Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial for aspecial Sunday intergenerational family event. The idea is for our young people to "apprentice" with our vastly experienced senior population in the Jewish Life Experience Encounter Program©.
As the web pages of the Religious School unfold, please access the information and definitely check out the photos of our students in action. Parental involvement is an important key to successful learning of children. Please read all information and continue to visit the web site. Our T.G.I.F. approach will involve students and their families in a fun and participatory manner.
Jack Rosenbaum M.ED
Education Director
Early Childhood Center Director
The road to the future for our children will pose many choices and opportunities. It is imperative that our children's experiences in their early years set a solid foundation for their future success. I personally welcome you to the Rose and Jules Lustig Early Childhood Center of Temple Beth Am. Our purpose is to provide the highest quality educational experience, being responsive to the individualized needs of the total child in a creative, warm, nurturing, Jewish environment.
Our program is based on the child's need for spontaneous, active play, and involves hands-on learning experiences. Our learning center approach affords the child an opportunity to explore, discover and create with the optimum child-teacher ratio. We are proud to boast that we have curriculum specialists for each of our age groups as well as physical education and computer specialists. The decision to enroll your child in an educational program is not an easy one, nor one to be made lightly. It is one that requires a great deal of thought and decision making. The school you choose should be the one that you think offers your child the best opportunities for preschool years filled with the joy of learning, healthy self esteem and friendships to last a lifetime. I invite you to visit Temple Beth Am E.C.C. and discover why we are the premier preschool in Broward County. Your child is precious and deserves the very best in their road to success and happiness. Let that road lead them to Temple Beth Am E.C.C.
"It's Just The Beginning.........."
Helen Bekerman, M.S. Ed.
Early Childhood Center Director
We welcome your inquiries about our school.
We can be reached at 954-968-4545 ext 20, or click on the email link below.
Thank you.
Youth Director
Prior to becoming a “Family Member”of Temple Beth Am in August 2003, Zoe originally hailed from
Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Growing up in a small community fostered a great sense of Jewish pride which was highlighted through her family, BBYO, Hebrew High and summer camp. Amongst mny of her favorite things to do which included baseball, basketball, swimming and movie going, Zoe found time to travel extensively to Israel including organized trips like, Project Renewal-Or Yehuda, Project Otzma, making Aliyah and volunteering 2 years to the Nachal Brigade of the IDF.
After finding her way back to North America, Zoe found work through the Canada Israel Experience which allowed her to travel freely between Canada and Israel. Between planning and overseeing various Day School trips to
Israel, Zoe was also a part of the original birthright Canada team. Deciding it was time to put down some serious roots, JewishJobs.com helped Zoe find her way to what she now refers to as a “true home” at Temple Beth Am in Margate.
Five years later, Zoe has found her niche as well as a loving husband and is planning to start a family soon.
