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Families...

Obituaries are updated regularly and archived on JN Online:
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Her Own Voice

DAVID SACHS
Editorial Assistant

Mrs. Prog's classroom, said the
rabbi, was filled with the productive
buzz of children intently engaged in
veryone who knew Janet
small groups on various projects.
Prog, a kindergarten
"Children might be reading to each
teacher in Detroit from
other. In the opposite corner, going
the 1940s through the
on simultaneously; children might be
mid-1980s, called her "sweet,"
reaching each other music.
"kind" and "gentle.
'All of those children and all of
But Mrs. Prog, an alto singer in
their lives, everyone can look back
the Music Study Club's Choral
and say they had this phenomenal,
Group, was not just another voice in
unique kindergarten experience."
the choir.
In her personal life,
To her students, 5-
Mrs. Prog persevered in
year-old beneficiaries of
the face of adversity, rais-
this dedicated teacher, she
ing a family as a divorced
was an innovator who
mother. Both her sons
taught to the beat of a dif-
died of cancer, Kenneth
ferent drummer.
Mitchnick at age 43 and
"She received thank-you
Philip Mitchnick at age
cards from her former stu-
21. Mrs. Prog was a
dents 20 years later, thank-
breast cancer survivor
ing her for changing their
and had a quadruple
lives in kindergarten," said
heart bypass operation.
her granddaughter Marla
"She lived gracefully
Janet Prog
Mitchnick. Mrs. Prog, of
with the sorrow of losing
West Bloomfield, died July
her sons," said her
17 after suffering a heart attack.
granddaughter. She added that her
At her funeral, Rabbi Tamara
grandmother's last 33 years were
Kolton of the Birmingham Temple
blessed by her marriage to Max.
said, "Some people spend their entire
Mrs. Prog liked attending the
life without finding their passion, but
opera with her family members.
Janet found her passion early and she
"Music lit her up with joy," said
lived her passion.
Mitchnick, who sang an aria to her
"Janet took the lives of small chil-
grandmother at the funeral. "She
dren and allowed them to thrive. She
was drawn to it.!'
was very simply what we would call a
Mrs. Prog enjoyed the Choral
magical teacher."
Group, which performed before senior
Dian Fox, who taught with her at
groups, nursing homes and communi-
George Ford School in the 1980s,
ty gatherings. She loved watching the
said, "Her students absolutely loved
faces of the elderly light up in the
her. At the end of the day, they didn't
same way as did the young ones she
want to leave."
led in song for so many years.
As a young woman, said Rabbi
Said Rabbi Kolton, "Janet Prog will
Kolton,_Mrs. Prog decided she wanted
be remembered by hundreds of chil-
to teach kindergarten. She observed
dren whose lives she touched. These
ways many kindergarten classes were
children, now grown up, will forever
run and she wanted to do things dif-
be able to reflect on being in her class-
ferently. She wanted the classroom to
room in a caring environment where
be less about rules and more about
they were trusted to teach each other
self-directed learning in small groups.
and themselves. It is the children who
Mrs. Prog taught like an orchestra
bear her great legacy.
conductor, leading small sections of
Mrs. Prog is survived by her hus-
children expressing themselves while
band, Max Prog; daughter Sandy
they learned.
Tambor of West Bloomfield; grand-
Said Rabbi Kolton, "She had a
children Jonah and Alex Tambor,
vision for a new kind of.classroom
Marla, Jordan and Joshua
where children would develop the
Mitchnick, Simon Russell.
ability to cooperate with one another
Interment at Nusach H'ari
to actually teach one another and to
Cemetery. Arrangements by Ira
come to teach themselves."
Kaufman Chapel.

E

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7/30
1999
Detroit Jewish News 135