Board of Directors

Arnee R. Winshall, President:  Ms. Winshall, HATC Board Chair, studied developmental psycholinguistics at the University of Chicago, is the Founding Chair of Hebrew at the Center and the Chair of the Board of Directors of RAVSAK.  Arnee also serves on the Executive Committee of JESNA as the lay chair of the Lippman Kanfer Institute, on the Foundation for Jewish Camp board, and is Founding Chair of JCDS, Boston’s Jewish Community Day School.  Her article, “State of the Field: Hebrew Teaching and Learning” was published in the spring 2011 issue of  Contact, The Journal of the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life. She is the recent recipient of Hebrew College’s Sidney Hillson/Rose Bronstein Award for distinguished achievement in Jewish educational leadership. Contact information: arneew@hebrewatthecenter.org

Diane Troderman: Ms. Troderman is involved in the renaissance and renewal of Jewish life throughout the world. She chaired JESNA (Jewish Education Service of North America) from 2006 to 2009 and currently sits on the boards of the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), Hazon (Jewish environmental movement), The Hebrew Charter School Center and the Davidson Board at JTS.

Diane and her husband Harold Grinspoon are partners in several collaboratives in the Jewish world for Day schools, Complementary schools, and early childhood initiatives, including PEJE and PELIE.  They are members of Areivim: The Fund for the Jewish Future.

Diane directed the Grinspoon Foundation (HGF.org) from 1993-98 and is currently sitting on their board of trustees. She and her husband travel extensively around the world, preferably as hikers.  They have several awards and honorary degrees as well as published articles on intergenerational philanthropy. Between the two of them, they have six children and eleven grandchildren.

Barbara Skydell Safran: Ms. Safran is a product of twelve years of Orthodox day schools in New York City and fifteen years of a religious, Zionist, Hebrew speaking camp (Machane Massad), Barbara has been active as a volunteer and an advocate for day school education since moving to Boston. She served as President of the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Boston,  Vice President of Camp Yavneh, and was among the founding Board of Trustees of The New Jewish High School (Gann Academy).  She was also a member of the Boston group of the Wexner Heritage Foundation program.  Barbara holds a Ph.D. from Brandeis University in health policy and, prior to joining JCDS, Boston's Jewish Community Day School, was a policy analyst and writer for various organizations, and an independent consultant with a particular interest in health workforce policy.  Most importantly, she is passionate about the importance of Hebrew.  She and Arthur have one son, Jonathan, who is a day school graduate.

Joanne Blauer: Ms. Blauer formerly was the Associate Dean and Secretary and Executive Vice Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College and Graduate School of Medical Sciences.  She currently serves on the board of Scripps College and has previously served on the board of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and is a member of the Washington State Bar Association.

Dr. Vardit Ringvald, Ex-officio:  Professor Ringvald is the Director of Hebrew the Hebrew Language Program at Brandeis University and the Brandeis University-Middlebury School of Hebrew. She is a founding board member of JCDS, Boston’s Jewish Community Day School. (See staff bios for additional information.)

Staff

Professor Vardit Ringvald, Senior Academic Advisor:  Dr. Ringvald is the Director of the Hebrew Language Program at Brandeis University and the director and founder of the Brandeis Summer Institute.  She is an expert in the application of the proficiency approach to foreign language instruction and the development of competency-based curriculum for teaching Modern Hebrew in all educational settings, implementing authentic materials and methods for integrating Hebrew culture into the class room at all levels.  She is a consultant to a variety of Hebrew language programs and is the first approved by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) for their Hebrew Speaking Test.  Dr. Ringvald also served as the chairperson of the SAT II for Hebrew. Along with her colleagues, she published Brandeis Modern Hebrew, which instantly became the standard college Hebrew language textbook in the United States.  In addition to her ongoing, groundbreaking work at Hebrew at the Center, in 2008 Dr. Ringvald directed the creation of the Brandeis University–Middlebury School of Hebrew and is a founding board member of JCDS, Boston’s Jewish Community Day School. Dr. Ringvald received her Ph.D. in Education (Second Language Acquisition in Higher Education) from Lesley College and is presently engaged in a study of Hebrew language and identity.  Contact information:  ringvald@brandeis.edu

Janice Silverman Rebibo, Senior Program Officer and Technology Director:  Before coming to Hebrew at the Center, Janice was Executive Director of SchoolsOnLine Israel, an educational non-profit that conducted workshops in Communications, IT and Conflict Resolution, pairing middle school classes from disparate sectors to foster tolerance in Israeli society. 200 teachers, 1,000 students and their school administrators met and worked cooperatively on educational projects on the Internet platform Janice adapted for this community. A native English speaker, Janice is an award-winning Hebrew poet, the author of several books of Hebrew and English poetry and translations. Janice holds an MAJS from Hebrew College with a concentration in Hebrew language and literature.  She continued her association with the College as an Independent Studies instructor and thesis adviser and has served as visiting Hebrew poet at Brandeis University, Middlebury College and in the community.  Contact information: janicer@hebrewatthecenter.org 

Madelon Kaster, Financial Officer:  Madelon is a CPA and holds an MBA from Boston University. She received a BS in accounting from the University of Connecticut and studied Political Science at Tel Aviv University.  Madelon worked at Fidelity for 17 years.  She brings to Hebrew at the Center her over 20 years of accounting experience.  Contact information:  madelonk@hebrewatthecenter.org

Sharona Givol, School Advisor:  Sharona, in her capacity as the Director of the Hebrew Language Program at JCDS, Boston’s Jewish Community Day School, served as the JCDS Project Manager for the Covenant Foundation Grant which helped to underwrite the pilot phase that led to the launch of HATC. After joining JCDS Boston in 2002, she began working with Dr. Ringvald to develop and refine the Hebrew language acquisition tools, teacher workshops, and mentoring  programs that are now being shared with Hebrew language and Jewish educators around the world.
While teaching grades 5-9 in Israel, Sharona was responsible for helping foster children adapt to their new families and communities. She managed a center for children with learning disabilities, working with dyslexic Middle School students. Later she co-founded the Community Day School of the Northern Golan Heights. From 1986 to 1997 Sharona worked for the "Logal" educational software company in Israel, as Director of Reading Comprehension and Language Arts.

Liat Kadosh, School Advisor:  Since 2004, Liat has been the Hebrew Language Director at The Epstein School (Middle School) in Atlanta, Georgia. Liat has over 20 years experience teaching Hebrew to students and adults in Israel and the United States. Since 2007 she has been a Hebrew language instructor at Emory University in Atlanta. Prior to moving to Atlanta, Liat taught Hebrew, wrote curriculum, and coordinated Hebrew language instruction support for students with special needs at the New Jewish High School (Gann Academy), in Waltham, MA, for six years.  In Israel, Liat served as Director of the Ulpan at the Givat Washington High School campus and subsequently as co-director of the School.  She holds a BA,  Teaching License, and Educational Leadership Diploma from Bar Ilan University and an MA in Jewish Education from Siegal College of Judaic Studies, Ohio.

Shlomit Lipton, School Advisor:  In addition to her work with HATC, Shlomit is a Hebrew teacher and mentor at JCDS Boston. Shlomit was the Hebrew Studies Coordinator at The Rashi School, Boston Area Reform Jewish Day School, from 1996 to 2008, where she taught Hebrew at all levels.  She was Assistant Head of The Rashi School from January 2001 to June 2003 and also Interim Head of the School.  She taught Hebrew at Prozdor high school for three years and was a consultant in the development of the URJ Hebrew curriculum Haverim B’Ivrit. Shlomit studied at Oranim Teachers’ College, affiliated with Haifa U., and holds an M.Ed. specializing in Reading and Language Arts from UNC-Chapel Hill.  In Israel, Shlomit taught English in grades 4 through 12 at Kibbutz Kabri.  Shlomit has participated in many professional development seminars, including the Jewish Day School Leadership Seminar at Bar Ilan U., the Harvard U. Principals’ Seminar, Brandeis U. Proficiency Workshop, OPI Workshop and Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design.

Dr. Gilda Oran, School Advisor:  Gilda is affiliated with the Department of Teacher Preparation at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She teaches and supervises in the Individualized Masters Program in Education and Judaic Studies, a collaboration between GWU, the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning, and Teachers 2000, which includes Spanish, French and ESL. She has over 30 years of experience in PK-16+ teaching, supervision and consulting, and guides teachers in creating Proficiency-based Hebrew programs in Maryland and Massachusetts.  She is a consultant in Dynamic Learning for Excellence in Education, working with teachers nationwide, especially in Jewish Day Schools. Gilda completed her undergraduate work in foreign languages at the University of Toronto and her graduate work at the University of Miami (Florida), including an M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education and a Ed.D. in Early Childhood/Elementary Education, with a focus on elementary school foreign language teaching (FLES).

Frieda D. Robins, School Advisor:  Frieda was the Lead Educator of Ma'alah, Early Childhood Hebrew Immersion Network at the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary, also funded by The Covenant Foundation. Before joining JTS in 1997, she taught at the New City Jewish Center for 16 years in the religious school, preschool and Hebrew for adults, and at Rockland Community College. She holds a Masters in Jewish Education from JTS and is a doctoral candidate in Jewish Education there. Her research interests include early childhood Jewish education and Hebrew language education and evaluation. Frieda concentrates on professional development for early childhood educators both in Hebrew education and in Judaic studies. She has published studies on the Hebrew language immersion program at Camp Ramah, Judaic enrichment as change agent and scholarly research in Hebrew Immersion. Frieda has also served as Director of Early Childhood Programs at Camp Ramah of New England.