BJE Hosts Hundreds at Early Childhood Institute
On March 10, 2025, BJE’s 44th annual Bebe Feuerstein Simon Early Childhood Institute drew a crowd of more than 650 attendees for a day of quality professional development for early childhood educators. This annual conference offers early childhood educators a day of learning, skill building and professional growth.
This year’s conference was held at Valley Beth Shalom with the theme of “Celebrating Joy and Possibilities.” The day began with breakfast and inspirational remarks from award-winning artist, writer and Jewish educator, Jonathan Schmidt Chapman, followed by three workshops from an array of esteemed presenters, lunch, and a closing reflection session. Participants were able to select the workshops that most spoke to them. The varied topics included: Classroom Communications, Exploring Judaism Through the Senses, Teaching Jewish Values and Bringing the Joy of Israel into the Classroom. Some of this year’s speakers, coming locally and from across the country, included Rabbi Dr. Meir Muller, Rabbi Rebecca Schatz, Lindsay Astor Grant, Dr. Sharon Bacharach, Kira Rappaport, Dr. Natalie Maddison, Orly Star and many more.
The conference included a special Infant/Toddler track for educators working with children aged 0-24 months. This track provided age-specific learning for Parent and Me educators and early childhood educators who work with our youngest students.
For more information about BJE’s work in Early Childhood Education, contact Carly Rosenstein, Director of BJE’s Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Education and Special Projects
This year’s breakfast is made possible, in part, thanks to a generous donation by Sanford and David Weiner in memory of their beloved wife and mother, Karen Weiner.
We thank JFEDLA for their support of this program.
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