SJCS Teacher Beth Huppin Receives 2010 Covenant Award

The Holocaust Center congratulates Beth Huppin!

COVENANT FOUNDATION NAMES 2010 AWARDEES FOR EXCELLENCE IN JEWISH EDUCATION


Image at right: Winning art entry from one of Beth Huppin's students, Shai G.

Seattle Jewish Community School teacher Beth Huppin recognized as one of Three Jewish Educators who are Recipients of the Prestigious Covenant Award, and Cited for Innovation, Inspiration and Impact on Jewish Education and Community

2010 Recipients Move Their Students To Take Action
New York – June 1, 2010 – Three exceptional educators from across the spectrum of Jewish life are 2010 recipients of The Covenant Foundation’s prestigious Covenant Award for their commitment to excellence and for designing innovative approaches making lasting impact on students, community and Jewish education.

Beth Huppin, a Judaic Studies teacher at the Seattle Jewish Community School; Jan Darsa, Director of Jewish Education at Facing History and Ourselves in Brookline, MA; and Dr. Bernard Steinberg, President and Director of Harvard Hillel are the 2010 awardees.



“The institutions they have enriched, the programs they have initiated, and the influence they have had on their students, their peers, and the community at large is enormous,” said Eli N. Evans, chairman of the board of directors of The Covenant Foundation. “They do not share one denomination, one pedagogical approach, one teaching venue, or one definition of teaching. The one commonality among these uncommon people is their abiding love of Judaism and the Jewish people and their devotion to the perpetuation of the Jewish heritage.”

The three awardees join 57 other Jewish educators honored with a Covenant Award since the Foundation established the citation in 1991. Each will receive $36,000, and each of their institutions will receive $5,000.

The Foundation and the Jewish community will honor the 2010 Covenant Awardees on Nov. 7 at a gala dinner and award ceremony in New Orleans during the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America.

“The Covenant Award gives deserved recognition to those doing extraordinary, innovative and impactful work on the ground,” said Harlene Winnick Appelman, Executive Director of The Covenant Foundation and 1991 Covenant Award recipient. “Their daily work, often uncelebrated, touches Jews of all ages seeking inclusion and fulfillment in Jewish life, immeasurably strengthening Jewish community and continuity. Each of our 2010 awardees has made it his or her life’s work to call students to action and encourage them to live lives of engagement.”

Beth Huppin has taught day school Judaic Studies at the Seattle Jewish Community School since 1995 and is currently a fifth-grade teacher there. She is also a middle school and adult education teacher at Congregation Beth Shalom in Seattle.

Huppin is widely recognized by colleagues, students, parents and others in the community as an inspiring teacher and leader who puts her stamp on Jewish education by injecting Jewish values and action - both in and out of the classroom - into curricula and the lives of her students.
Not satisfied with transmitting information, she regularly calls her students to action. Once a month, for example, she takes her fifth-grade students at Seattle Jewish Community School to serve meals to homeless persons, and participants have described the experience as transformative.

“The ultimate goal of Jewish education is tikkun olam,” she said. “The continuation of the Jewish people has meaning only if we fulfill God’s commands to repair this broken world.”
Huppin has had a critical impact on the Seattle Jewish Community School’s educational philosophy, has played a guiding role in the development of the Judaic curriculum, and is a mentor to new teachers. She has taught and inspired teachers from around the country at CAJE (Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education) conferences.

Colleagues said she cherishes and thrives among students and teachers and leads by example with her charitable activities, especially among the homeless in the Seattle area.
“Beth has been asked many times to take on the official title of Jewish Studies Coordinator at SJCS,” said Head of School Debra J. G. Butler, who nominated Huppin for the Covenant Award. “Despite the fact that she virtually performs this role, she has refused the title in order not to separate herself from other teachers. Beth is a teacher among teachers. She inspires her colleagues, our elementary school students, and the middle and high school students she teaches in supplementary school programs and the many adults she has taught.”

“In honoring a classroom teacher, the Covenant Foundation honors not just me, but also all those teachers who are in the classroom day in and day out, guiding children and adults to discover the beauty and richness of Torah learning,” said Huppin, who holds degrees from Brandeis University and the University of Judaism. “It honors all of the classroom teachers who, as Heschel said, strive to respond to the call for ‘text people,’ and not only ‘textbooks,’ and who know that caring for each other is the bedrock of Judaism.”

Read full article which includes information on the other recipients...

The Holocaust Center thanks Beth Huppin for her fine work and her dedication to Holocaust education. This past year, one of her students placed second place in the Holocaust Center's writing/art contest.