Allegra Franco College Holds Commencement

Recently, the Allegra Franco Sephardic Women’s Teachers College held its annual commencement exercises at Congregation Beth Torah. The ceremony saluted the accomplishments of the largest graduating class to date: Frieda Cattan, Adele Chabot, Bava Cohen, Vicky Cohen, Ariella Falack, Marie Levy, and Rochelle (Rahmey) Salem. These women completed an extensive program of classes in Judaic Studies and methodology, taught by educational leaders from throughout the New York area.

Courses included Tanakh, Jewish History, Halakah, Jewish Philosophy, Hebrew language and grammar, as well as training in state-of-the art teaching methodologies. During the program, students were placed in community schools, where they trained one-on-one with mentors. Graduates of the program are currently teaching in Magen David Yeshivah, Barkai Yeshivah and Yeshivah of Flatbush. One of the earliest graduates has now moved on to a position as Principal of Judaic Studies in a local school, following her completion of the prestigious Lookstein Foundation fellowship administrative training program.

The mission of this unique program is to secure the future and the traditions of our community by providing teachers with a wide knowledge base to serve as role models for the children of the community.

Inspired by Ezra S. Ashkenazi, and under the leadership of Jeffrey A. Cohen (chairman of the board) and Carol Tawil (president), the program has grown over seven years from three students to over 30. With the ongoing cooperation of the leadership of our community schools, the graduates have forged relationships with their students that will ensure the continuity of our community.

While many of the women in the program are interested in pursuing careers in education, there is a significant number who attend classes to expand and deepen their Jewish knowledge. An interesting development has been the number of women who began taking classes for their own enrichment and then decided to join the teacher program. As a result of this movement, this past September, the college launched a new initiative, offering an accelerated teacher training program to women who have already established their homes and families and wish to pursue a career teaching the children of our community. This program allows these women to complete all certification requirements in two years, and will graduate its first class in June 2011.

In the words of the graduates, “A teacher is much more than the knowledge he or she bestows. A great teacher is someone who motivates through empowerment, inspires creativity, and guides the students in their thirst for knowledge.” The Allegra Franco Sephardic Women’s Teachers College has provided our community with such teachers, and, with Hashem’s help, will continue to do so in the future.

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Gitta Neufeld is the director of Education at the Allegra Franco Teacher’s College.