This Week

Insight

To Len, With Love

Inspiring WSU education professor's students raise
$125, 000 toward an endowment in his honor.

Dr. Kaplan, 66, was born in Peekskill, N.Y., of Russian
Jewish immigrant parents who had met in the United
States. His father drove a furniture truck.
hat do you give an honored college professor
After receiving his doctorate at the University of Rochester
in recognition of the differences he's made in
— the first on either side of his family to go to college — Dr.
thousands of lives?
Kaplan taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo
For the many students of Dr. Leonard
and the University of Florida before arriving in Detroit.
"Len" Kaplan, professor of education at Wayne State
In addition to his academic career, Dr. Kaplan and his wife,
University since 1973, the answer was clear.
Evelyn, lead an international travel experience every summer
Instead of a pen, a Palm Pilot or a trip to Europe, they chose
vacation. They take no commission for this activity — only
a gift that would ensure his ideas would continue to inspire
free plane tickets and the pleasure of taking a congenial group
others long after his retirement — an endowed professorship in
of people on a different adventure each summer.
WSU's College of Education.
Dr. Kaplan, who lives in Farmington Hills,
Although Kaplan is a professor of curricu-
had considered retiring from academia before
lum development, his field encompasses
the campaign for the endowed professorship
much more than creating lesson plans. "We're
got underway. But now he wants to stick
teaching a generation of kids to grow up to
around a while to keep the ball rolling.
do well," he says. "We need to teach them to
"I'm a curriculum person, that's what I do," he
grow up to do good."
explains. "We want to create a center where we
Among his many awards, Dr. Kaplan was
talk about 'affect' as an instructional strategy, to
honored in 1997 as both Michigan Teacher
teach teachers, to prepare administrators on how
Educator of the Year and the Distinguished
to do this within the stuff they teach. Because
Educator in the United States by the National
no teacher is going to stop teaching mathemat-
Association of Teacher Educators. He received
ics, stop teaching history — that's their job. But
the WSU College of Education Excellence in
the work I've been doing for the past 35-40
Teaching Award in 1998 and the WSU
years, that I've published a lot on, is how do you
President's Excellence in Teaching Award in
do both those things at the same time."
1999.
Dr. Leonard Kaplan
Dr. Kaplan's former students have so far
In his graduate classes and seminars — his
amassed about $125,000 of the $250,000 needed
60th doctoral candidate graduated last month
to begin the endowed professorship, which would
— Dr. Kaplan focuses on the "affective" side of education.
be financed through income on investments.
In the simplest terms, this means that unless children feel
"This could be used as a salary top-off for a new position
nurtured, unless their social and emotional needs are met,
or to enhance an existing position," says Dr. Paula Woods,
they're not going to learn. The goal of schooling is to devel-
chair of WSU's School of Education.
op the ability to make rational and humane decisions. And
Other possibilities include funding international travel for
to grow into caring, empathetic human beings, students
the Kaplan Professor and paying for graduate assistant support.
must be treated with care and empathy in the place where
Tim Nash, academic dean of the Midland-based
they spend the most hours of the day — the classroom.
Northwood University, kicked off the fund-raising drive
Dr. Kaplan's own classrooms reflect his philosophy.
with his own contribution.
"He's a wonderful mentsh and an incredible human
"Len is an individual who has had a great impact on my
being," says Janet Pont of Southfield, who attended graduate
life," says Nash, who recently completed his doctoral dis-
classes while teaching at Congregation Shaarey Zedek West
sertation under Dr. Kaplan's tutelage.
Bloomfield, B'nai Israel Center's Beth Hayeled preschool.
"He truly turned me on to 'asking the next question' —
"At the start of the class, he would say, `I want to thank you
which is also the title of one of his books." Nash counts
for coming to my class and for the time you put in,' she
Dr. Kaplan as a friend as well as an invaluable mentor.
remembers. "When you say something like that, your students
"Len always says 'If you can't learn to make the world a
know you respect them as individuals. You have to understand,
better place, what's the use of learning?' " Nash says.
these classes were at night, and 98 percent of us were coming
"That's what he's devoted his life to doing." ❑
from a job. He made his classes so interesting everybody was
looking forward to them. There were hardly any absences."
For more information about the Leonard Kaplan
Pont used this and other techniques she learned from Dr.
Endowed Professorship, contact Joanne Osmer, in the
Kaplan while teaching adults at Madonna College in Livonia.
WSU development office, (313) 577-1664.
"A few of them told me, No teacher has ever treated me like
this before. You make me feel like a human being."'

DIANA LIEBERMAN

Copy Editor

Remember
When

From the Jewish News pages this week
10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago.

The Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit released the
Jewish Population Study, the first
conclusive study of Detroit's Jewish
community in more than 25 years.
The Hebrew Learning Center, for-
merly open only to Midrasha College
of Jewish Studies students at the
United Hebrew Schools in Southfield,
opened to the general community.

Hadassah underwrote the first
Youth Aliyah settlement in Israel
since the early days of the move-
ment (founded in 1934) to rescue
Jewish children from the Holocaust.
Anita Hershen, a member of the
Haganah intelligence corps during
Israel's War of Independence,
addressed the Koach Section of the
Jewish Welfare Federation of
Detroit Women's Division.

Ann Arbor Hillel Foundation partic-
ipated in a demonstration with the
Soviet Jewry Committee of the Ann
Arbor Jewish Community Council
in conjunction with the appearance
of the Osipov Halalaika Orchestra.
Detroiters Alan E. Schwartz,
Hyman Safran, Stanley J.
Winkelman, Dr. Peter Shifrin, Miles
Jaffee, David K. Page and George M.
Zeltzer were invited to serve in the
top leadership of several key working
committees of the Council of Jewish
Federations and Welfare Funds.

Mrs. Gertrude Wineman received the
1962 Fred M. Butzel Award, Detroit
Jewry's highest communal honor.

Landsmanschaften Council of Detroit
formed an affiliation with the Jewish
Community Center to provide co-
operation between constituent lamb-
manschafien organizations.
The Ladies Auxiliary of the
Jewish National Fund raised
$50,000 for Land Funds in Israel.

— Compiled by Holly Teasdle,
certified archivist, the Rabbi Leo M.
Franklin Archives of Temple Beth El

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