The Associated Talmud Torahs is proud to announce the completion of its tenth year of E.P.I.C. Encouraging Professionalism in Chinuch. E.P.I.C. is an innovative, teacher-driven, professional development mentoring program that enables teachers to grow as educators. This program is a collaboration between the Associated Talmud Torahs, Association for Torah Advancement, and National Louis University.
The 5-month program takes place on the mentee’s school’s site. Akiba Schechter, Arie Crown Hebrew Day School, Cheder Lubavitch Hebrew School, Hillel Torah, Joan Dachs Bais Yaakov, Yeshiva Ohr Boruch, Yeshivas Tiferes Tzvi, Bais Yaakov High School, Hanna Sacks Bais Yaakov, Ida Crown Jewish Academy, Lubavitch Girls High School, and Yeshivas Meor HaTorah have all participated in the program. The individual participant selects his or her own professional goals for the duration of the program. National Louis University provides mentors to meet with principals and teachers before the program commences. The mentors observe the participants bi-weekly during instructional time. Prior to each classroom visit, the mentor and mentee meet to discuss the upcoming lesson. After the lesson, a post observation conference occurs to review the mentor’s observations and the mentee’s reflections about the strengths and weaknesses of the lesson, and to discuss possible alternative strategies to consider utilizing in the future.
Principals had the following to say about the program:
“We are grateful to the ATT for providing valuable opportunities to all school employees to grow and develop within their career paths.
“In your involvement in the EPIC program, the growth that you displayed has been evident to our entire faculty.”
Teachers had the following to say about the program:
“Having an outside educator come and observe my class was invaluable. A pair of unbiased eyes and ears is always helpful to analyze what’s working and what needs to be changed.”
“It was a very rewarding experience with great learning opportunities and growth. I would recommend this program to any educator wishing to step out of his/her comfort zone and begin to implement new ideas in the classroom.”
Mentors commented:
“…I have bragged about our lesson planning and execution of lessons to not only people in the EPIC Program but colleagues in other professional areas. Your lessons were fluid and flawless.”
“I want to let you know how delighted I was to work with you as a mentor for the EPIC Program.”
The goal of E.P.I.C. is to raise the bar and expectations for principals and teachers by providing both with the tools to meet the ongoing challenges of preparing the leaders of tomorrow. The strength of E.P.I.C. stems from ongoing supervision and personal reflections which are the cornerstones of the program. E.P.I.C. provides another set of eyes for problem solving and gives positive feedback to the participants.
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The Associated Talmud Torahs (ATT) of Chicago serves the greater Chicagoland Jewish community as its Central Agency for Religious Education. Created in 1929, the ATT has provided a quality Jewish education to its Jewish youth through various educational opportunities. Currently, the ATT has an enrollment of 3700 students in its schools and an additional 120 in its summer programs. The E.P.I.C. program is part of the ATT’s Barbakoff Department of Teacher Education and Development.
