Rambam Mesivta was honored to welcome Ms. Exaudi Hecht, Civic Spirit Director of Education and Innovation, and the members of the 2024 Civic Spirit Cohort for an evening of learning, celebration, and reflection. The Cohort was comprised of educators, teachers, principals, and other administrators from Rambam, HAFTR, HANC, Shulamith, an dm o The evening began with a workshop on “Civic Love Language” facilitated Hecht.
Musing an interdisciplinary and multimedia proach, the educators reacted to art, music, political cartoons, famous quotes, and more to discover their particular proclivities towards Civics. Whether it was through patriotism, activism, personal responsibly, literacy, virtue, or community the educators learned a great deal about themselves and were committed to using this knowledge to enhance their teaching.
Following the session and a delicious Smash House dinner provided by Civic Spirit, members of the Cohort were asked to share their Capstone Projects. Each member of the Cohort completed their Civic Spirit Fellowship by implementing a Civics related lesson, unit, or program into their schools. As colleagues and now friends, it was a source of pride for everyone involved to see what fruit the seeds of the 2024 Civic Spirit Cohort yielded. Mr.
Jeff Lazar from Shulamith shared his desire to have students understand how imagery shapes elections while Ms. Laura Eisner, Head of Humanities at HANC, had her students explore their Jewish American identities. Sadr.
Hillel Goldman, Principal of Rambam, presented his “Civic Spirit Film Festival” project where his students analyzed through the lens of American values and connected it to foundational texts from Adams, to Jefferson, to Whitman, to Alexis de Tocqueville an dm o Many of the members of the Cohort helped institute Civic Spirit Clubs for their high school students and the engagement with community service, activism, and citizenship continues.