Published
in Where, What, When Magazine
NOVEMBER 2004
Mrs. Rochel Robbins, second grade Judaic Studies teacher at Yeshivat Rambam, was recently awarded a Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. She was one of 56 recipients from across the nation who was honored at the United Jewish Communities Assembly in Cleveland, Ohio.
Mrs. Robbins is an outstanding educator who provides a well-rounded Judaic Studies education for her students. Morah Rochel has a reputation for her lively classes, whose singing is often heard throughout the hallways. She incorporates many different modalities of teaching; audio, visual, and kinesthetic aids, as well as charts, props, songs, and motions. Both the academically gifted student and the student requiring additional support thrive in her class, because she provides a vast array of teaching methods. The chanting of the pesukim and colored shorashim charts on the walls offer a visual, experiential, and challenging learning environment. With a sense of satisfaction and a smile, each individual child is comfortable and eager to participate in the fun and learning in Morah Rochel's classroom. Rochel Robbins, as a team player and colleague, shares her materials with other educators and allows student teachers to observe her class and teaching methods.
Morah Rochel seeks not only to bring academic excellence to the forefront but also to ensure that each child feels good about him/herself. Each year her second graders excitedly prepare for their Chumash program, where they perform a play about matan Torah and then ceremoniously receive their first Chumash. A highlight of the program this year was the educational CD that Morah Rochel created using pictures of the students actively participating in their various classroom activities. Additionally, there are many parshiot which she wrote plays with the children in order to bring the stories and lessons of the Chumash alive for them. In one instance, she was teaching about Noah's Ark and created a "zoo" in her classroom. The bulletin boards were decorated with animals, and the children created animal dioramas, wrote stories in Hebrew, and acted out the parsha. Throughout the year, the students have many opportunities to write in Hebrew, and their work is proudly displayed on hallway and classroom bulletin boards.
Morah Rochel is a dedicated teacher, who epitomizes educational excellence in the classroom on a daily basis. Her class experience is one that students and their parents always remember. She consistently reaches out to and touches the lives of second grade students at Yeshivat Rambam. Her background includes B.A. Honors in Judaic Studies from Baltimore Hebrew University and teaching certificates from Beth Jacob Seminary program in New York and Toronto. She was also named Yeshivat Rambam Teacher of the Year in 2003.
A letter to the award winners states, "The entire Jewish community owes a debt of gratitude to all of our dedicated teachers...A strong Jewish education is one of the key predictors of a child's continued Jewish commitment as he/she grows into adulthood. It is because of teachers... who instill values, knowledge, and a love for Judaism that our children will grow up to be proud members of the Jewish community." Mrs. Robbins exemplifies these words from the president of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and the chairman of the Jewish Life Network/Stelnhardt Foundation.