Amid an unprecedented school year, Hebrew teacher Gilad Bargil completed Prizmah’s YOU Lead program to advance leadership in day schools.
(Courtesy of Prizmah) Following an unprecedented school year, SAR High School Hebrew teacher Gilad Bargil is bringing new leadership skills and ideas back to his school after completing a personalized leadership development program offered by Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools. Known as YOU Lead, this nine-month program offered Bargil one-on-one coaching, intensive learning with access to top thinkers and leaders in the field of Jewish education, and a strong network of peers from Jewish day schools and yeshivas around the country. These resources and supports were designed especially to elevate leadership during such uncertain times.
“I had a great opportunity to learn from the best educators there are,” said Bargil. “It was inspiring to be in a cohort filled with leaders who hold key positions in Jewish day schools across North America. Among so many other things, I learned how important it is to balance both giving a stage to and trusting teachers, while also actively inspiring the teaching staff and students.”
YOU Lead, an established program of excellence in the field, builds the capacity of school leaders, and this year was redesigned to address the unique needs brought about by the pandemic. Leaders learned to navigate challenges by focusing on core leadership capacities like creating relationships of trust, communicating clearly, giving effective feedback and deep listening. In addition, the core curriculum focused heavily on developing self-awareness. Leaders learned skills to prioritize their own mental health and wellness while supporting colleagues and students and strengthened their capacity to tackle increasingly complex challenges through skill-building opportunities. Expert-led master classes and peer-to-peer learning focused on best practices for supervision, developing talent, effective communication, time management and more.
“We understand how critical it is for leaders to feel supported in their work and to develop the self-awareness, presence and skills needed to succeed in a volatile and uncertain environment,” said Ilisa Cappell, vice president of leadership development at Prizmah. “The YOU Lead immersive is a safe and supportive environment in which each leader can grow, develop their vision, connect with peers across the country and work one-on-one with a coach as they tackle complex challenges and refine their own approach to school leadership. In addition to developing leaders who can reflect on their success and identify opportunities for growth, the YOU Lead curriculum is designed so that these leaders can apply what they learn in real time at their schools.”
YOU Lead is a Prizmah program sponsored by the Azrieli Foundation.
To learn more, visit https://prizmah.org/you-lead
