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Mrs. Kar watches as third graders Mike Topper, left, Elizabeth Beresh and Kenny Birnholtz answer questions on
the computer.
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PRInAY II INF 'An 1480
HEIDI PRESS
News Editor
L
001e °'
Crosswinds Mall
Leah Kar Wins First Schochet
Outstanding Teacher Award
eah Kar loves teaching.
She also loves children.
But most of all, she
loves teaching children. And
it is for her love and devotion
to her profession that she
received the first Schochet
Family Outstanding Teacher
Award.
A teacher at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek and Akiva
Hebrew Day School, Mrs. Kar
received the award for her
proposal on using computers
in the classroom to teach
Hebrew. She will use the
$3,000 prize to further her
own studies on using the com-
puter to teach religious school
subjects, to buy software and
to attend a national Jewish
teachers conference in
Seattle.
The award was established
by Minneapolis philan-
thropists Frank and Freda
Schochet "to increase the
recognition and status of
teachers," said Wayne State
University Associate Dean
Dr. Claude Schochet, son of
the donors. Schochet, who sits
on the selection committee
and presents the award on
behalf of his parents, said
that the award not only
recognizes the past ac-
complishments of the teacher
but provides funds for the
future.
The object of the award, is
"to try to improve the quali-
ty of Jewish education in
Detroit," Schochet said.
The Schochet family has set
aside funds to give the award
for five years. It is ad-
ministered by the Frank and
Freda Schochet fund of the
United Jewish Charities in
partnership with the Jewish
Welfare Federation of Detroit.
It is administered by that
agency, Schochet said,
"deliberately to get Federa-
tion prestige involved."
In Minneapolis, the
Schochets have provided
scholarships for teachers to
attend professional
conferences.
Mrs. Kar was one of 50
teachers nominated from a
list of 100 recommendations.
Of the 50 nominees, 12 sub-
mitted proposals to be con-
sidered for the prize.
Teaching is not new to Mrs.
Kar. One of nine children, she
"played teacher" to her sibl-
ings as a child. It's what
makes her most happy.
"I love to teach, " she said.
"It makes me excited. I feel a
sense of fulfillment. It's not
just a job; it's a profession of
mine."
Born in New York and the
mother of two grown
daughters, Mrs. Kar was
educated at the Yeshiva of
Flatbush and Central
Yeshivah High School for
Girls. She attended Brooklyn
College, earned an education
degree at Wayne State
University. She holds a per-
manent Hebrew teaching cer-
tificate and has taught in
schools in New York prior to
coming to Detroit. She also
has taught other teachers at
professional conferences.
She became interested in
computers and realized their
benefit in the classroom after
hearing a presentation at
Shaarey Zedek. She bought a
computer for her home and
started creating her own pro-
grams based on information
from class textbooks.
A benefit of the computer is
that it helps the children re-
tain information learned in
class. "It's just another rein-
forcer of the material that you
learn, either history or
Hebrew or holidays," she said.
"With the computer, reten-
tion is there. I think it's rein-
forcing in a very, very natural
way for the children. And