Left to right, Dr. Joseph Hakimi, Chaya Shamie, MarianneSiegel, Lowell Milken, Tova Baichman-Kass and Lynn Karz.
Every year, the Milken Family Foundation gives public recognitionand $10,000 each to education professionals “who have madesignificant contributions to excellence in day schools affiliatedwith the Bureau of Jewish Education,” according to the foundation.
This year’s five recipients are:
Tova Baichman-Kass
A kindergarten teacher at Pressman Academy, Baichman-Kass wascredited with creating a “loving and nurturing environment” in herclassroom and bringing out the abilities of even the most challengedstudents. “I believe my greatest impact has been my love of Judaismas it is passed to the children and which will eventually affect ourJewish community,” said Baichman-Kass.
Joseph Hakimi, Ph.D.
“Education is faith in people’s potential,” says Joseph Hakimi,director of Judaic studies and the middle school at Sinai AkibaAcademy. An educator for 23 years, Hakimi initiated the CommunityService Association, which involves students and faculty of severalschools in activities that assist people in need throughout the city.He also leads youth groups on educational tours of Israel and hashelped to establish the Nessab Israel Hebrew Academy and the TalmudTorah and preschool at the Eretz Cultural Center.
Lynn Karz
An educator for 22 years, Karz is the principal of general studiesto the pre-K through eighth-grade students at Ohr Eliyahu Academy.With a background in special education, Karz has initiated aninclusion program that integrates multi-sensory teaching techniques,modified classrooms and supportive therapies, and involves thecontributions of parents, teachers and specialists. “It is our job aseducators,” she says, “to help develop a whole human being who cancontribute to, care about and work with others in a productive way.”
Chaya Shamie
Shamie is co-curricular director and a Judaic studies teacher tothe 10th-grade students of Bais Yaakov of Los Angeles. “I became aneducator,” says Shamie, “because I grew up believing that teacherscan make an absolute difference in a student’s life that canultimately last a lifetime.” Shamie directed a musical productioninvolving all 200 students at the school and featuring choreographyand Hebrew songs created by the students. Known and respected in theJewish education community for her thoughtful and sound guidance indeveloping programs, Shamie is often consulted by other schoolsseeking this expertise.
Marianne Siegel
Siegel teaches general studies to the fifth-graders at KadimaHebrew Academy, as well as seventh-grade math and eighth-gradeAmerican history at the academy’s middle school. “I feel my impact inthe personal relationships I have maintained with many of my formerstudents and their families,” says Siegel. An educator for 27 years,Siegel’s structured classroom environment helps define the success ofsuch courses as “Researching an American State: A MultidisciplinaryApproach,” a four-month-long project that helps students understandand appreciate the importance of long-term planning, takingresponsibility, and pride in one’s work.
