Jewish Education and Civic Engagement: Empowering our Youth

Jewish tradition teaches that education is a hopeful exercise that has the power to change the world for the better. The events in our nation’s capital underscore the urgent need to understand what it means to uphold our nation’s values and promote healthy civic discourse.

Resources from the Webinar:

• Hepzibah Alon's of Facing History and Ourselves Slide Deck
• Our Kids Need to Know the Truth About What Happened at the Capitol Yesterday, via Kveller
• Why Civic Engagement Needs to be an Essential Part of the Early Childhood Years, by Sasha Kopp via The Jewish Education Project

Together, we explore the centrality of education in promoting civic engagement and how educators can prepare the next generation to be responsible, knowledgeable, engaged members of the democratic process.

This webinar offers a theoretical lens and practical tools for educators in both informal and formal settings who work with learners 7-18 years old.

Featuring:

• Dr. Tamara Mann Tweel, Program Director of Civic Initiatives at the Teagle Foundation,  co-founder of Civic Spirit, and a Fellow of the Kogod Research Center at Shalom Hartman Institute of North America.
• Hepzibah Alon, Program Associate for Educators in a Jewish setting at Facing History and Ourselves

Featured Presenters:

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Dr. Tamara Mann Tweel | Dr. Tamara Mann Tweel is Director of Civic Initiatives at the Teagle Foundation. Previously, she served as the Director of Strategic Development for Hillel International’s Office of Innovation, where she founded and directed Civic Spirit, a multi-faith civic education initiative. She currently teaches in the American Studies Program at Columbia University and serves on the Advisory Council of The Princeton University Office of Religious Life. Tweel received a master’s degree in theological studies from the Harvard Divinity School and a doctorate in history from Columbia University.

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Hepzibah Alon | Hepzibah Alon is a Program Associate for Educators in a Jewish setting at Facing History and Ourselves whose aim is to use the lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. Through Facing History and Ourselves, she mentors teachers, writes curriculum, and provides professional development for Jewish Day Schools. She is also an English teacher at the Alexander Muss High school in Israel. She received her Masters degree in English literature from Bar Ilan University and her Bachelors degree in English Literature and Linguistics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has been a teacher for 16 years, having taught middle school, high school, and college classes, and has worked at Facing History since 2014.  She grounds her classroom in the idea that academic rigor goes hand in hand with ethical reflection and emotional engagement in a safe classroom environment.