Shelter Rock Jewish Center

Dear Parents and Students,

It is with great enthusiasm that we introduce our new faculty and curriculum for this year's SRJC Hebrew High School. Two dynamic educators, Adam Watstein and Rabbi Jensen have joined our staff, and their innovative, passionate teaching styles are sure to transform Monday nights at SRJC into an exciting learning environment for our teenagers.

Adam Watstein, a 5th year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary and a masters degree student at the Davidson School of Education (JTS), will be the rabbinic intern at SRJC this year. Our community was first introduced to Rabbi Adam during last year's high holidays when he led our family services. Adam employs a high energy teaching style while conveying the importance of Jewish identity to his students. He relies on multimedia tools, story telling, and interactive lessons to create a classroom environment that makes Jewish identity both accessible and relevant to his students.

Rabbi Jensen has been the youth direct of of Great Neck Synagogue for seventeen years and is also well-known for bringing a unique liveliness to his classroom. He is also the director of admissions and a Talmud teacher at the North Short Hebrew Academy. Aside from Rabbi Jensen's skill as a Jewish educator, he is also well-known for his involvement in Chesed - social action projects on a local, national, and international level. Rabbi Jensen consistently challenges his students to participate in on hands-on tzedakah, an approach which will be integrated into our high school curriculum.

Both Rabbi Jensen and Rabbi Adam will be actively working with our Religious School director Ronit Azulay in all aspects of education and curriculum for the Hebrew High School.

In order to allow our students an opportunity to learn with both Rabbi Jensen and Rabbi Adam, we divide the curriculum into three parts: Jewish history and Israel education, the Why's of Judaism, and Chesed. While one class experiences an eight week unit with Rabbi Jensen, the other will be exploring a subject with Rabbi Adam. Intermittently students will participate in hands-on Chesed projects as a combined group. After the eight week unit is completed, Rabbi Jensen and Rabbi Adam will exchange classes. This model should maximize the learning opportunities of students.

Classes are held Monday evenings from 6:15 pm until 8 pm. Each week, a different dinner will be provided.

Prospective students are invited to our two "Dinner and Shmooz" dates in order to gain a better understanding of what our program will be like. Please join us September 24th and October 1st. We look forward to meeting you.

Ronit Azulay           Rabbi Sean Jensen              Adam Watstein

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