Jewish Placemaking Residency

Training Jewish Educators at Makom’s Lab School

Residents will work and be immersed in Jewish Placemaking at Makom Community’s Lab School in Philadelphia for two years through teaching and anchoring a classroom. At the end of that time, they will be certified Jewish Placemaking Educators (JPE) and encouraged to go lead their own educational community. Part of this opportunity ensures they are prepared to serve as teachers and coaches of Jewish Placemaking to increase the impact of Jewish Placemaking across North America.

Benefits of being a Jewish Placemaking Educator (JPE):

When a residency cohort graduates they will be certified Jewish Placemaking Educators (JPEs) as they take the next steps in their career as a Jewish educator. As an accredited JPE they will receive:

  • Curriculum resources we use at Makom Community (this has never been offered before) to use at their new place of employment
  • Support in conducting research inline with our research goals each year
  • A conduit back to Makom to share back data for our field research from their home communities 
  • Helps us learn about how Jewish Placemaking implementation goes in other places

JPEs as Facilitators Commitment: 

JPEs who completed the JP Residency have a five year commitment to help Makom facilitate Jewish Placemaking professional developments across the country. This includes:

  • Facilitating 25 hours a year of Jewish Placemaking Professional Development & Coaching 
  • Receiving a $5,000 stipend each year of facilitation 
  • Accessing professional development plans and slide decks and resources from Makom Community 
  • Leading as an educator in your local community

What do the two years of Residency look like?

In the same way that an education for children and families at Makom Community is both deep and rigorous, so too will an education for a freshly minted Jewish Placemaking educator be. This will include key principles of Jewish Placemaking and be a living laboratory for what it means for us to teach Jewish Placemaking.

In year 1 they will:

  • Lead a classroom at Makom Community
  • Participate in the text study, lesson planning, and reflection and iteration/research process.
  • Have mentorship with Beverly Socher- Lerner, Makom’s Executive Director & Founder
  • Perform small administrative tasks to support aspects of running a school and giving them realistic perspective on what it means to run a school

In year 2 they will:

  • Continue to lead a classroom at Makom Community
  • Participate in the text study, lesson planning, and reflection and iteration/research process 
  • Learn facilitation and coaching skills
  • Facilitate seminars & coaching groups  for fellow educators around the nation
  • Support onboarding new Residents and educators to Makom Community
  • Mentorship from Beverly Socher-Lerner and Terri Soifer, Makom’s Director of Strategy

For more information about the opportunity and how to apply, you can go here.