The dedication of the Moriah School’s Rabbi J. Shelley Applbaum Library and Technology Center Saturday night, January 10, at the Moriah Leadership and Alumni Reunion, will recognize how much education today integrates books and keystrokes.
“Libraries are no longer only about hard books but embody the way our children are reading and learning,” said Evan Sohn, president of Moriah. “The library and Technology Center combine the love of reading in the traditional way with our improved 21st century educational programs.” Sohn said Moriah embarked on a “major campus refresh” as part of its 50th anniversary and the redesign of The Center is next on the agenda. The Center is named in memory of Rabbi Applbaum, z”l, who served as principal of Moriah from 1977 to 1996.
With help from a BOLD grant, Moriah is in the midst of a multi-year program to improve its technology infrastructure and introduce personalized digital learning opportunities for students while reducing educational costs per student. Moriah’s Multi Modal program, known as “M^3” will be using many techniques to help students enhance their strengths and improve weaknesses. Teachers and students now routinely use Internet tools and software in the classroom.
Teaching teachers how to use technology is an ongoing process at Moriah as well. Sohn said that the Library and Technology Center includes an Innovation Lab “where teachers are continually trained in the most cutting-edge ways of education and pedagogy. Our biggest investment has been in professional development.”
Diane Wolf, who has served as a Moriah librarian for 34 years, will receive an award at the dedication for her service. Wolf told JLBC the library is still the place where students come to research and read books. Wolf said librarians guide students to books for their age, interest and reading level. And despite competition from eBooks, it is still a joy for kids to get their hands on a book and browse.
“You can’t look at a book on a Kindle,” Wolf commented. “When students have non-fiction book reports, they can look at books and explore areas they may not have known they were interested in.” And sometimes, a library is a place for peace and quiet, to sit and relax, or for tutoring in an environment with no distractions. The library is open throughout the school day and students can get permission to go during recess. “Every year there are some students who are stellar readers and come in all the time,” she said. Wolf began working in the library as a parent volunteer and went back to school for a Master’s degree in Library Science.
Service Awards will also be presented to Shelley Feit, former librarian, and Emily Trepp, who has been involved with Moriah since it was founded and has been a volunteer for the past 11 years.
Past presidents and board chairs will receive awards in recognition of their leadership in guiding Moriah through the years. Rella Feldman, a past president and co-chair of the event, said “Moriah is flourishing and remains the nurturing, outstanding institution developed under Rabbi Applbaum’s years as principal. Its faculty and rebbeim are extraordinarily devoted to the students. We are a real school community transmitting Torah and teaching generations of students. The fact that Moriah has dozens of parents who are alumni of the school speaks to the pride we take in Moriah.”
One of those alumni, now a Moriah parent, is the current president of the school. Like most parents, Sohn tries to encourage his children to occasionally put down their devices. “When we are sitting in our family room, and my children are engaged in their iPhones and iPads, I tend to get annoyed that they aren’t interacting with each other,” he said. “But I take incredible personal joy when all my children are reading books.”
