Early Childhood

An Historic First (March 2004)

I was recently privilaged to be part of a history-making event when I participated in the 4th Annual Early Childhood Educators Conference of the Union of Reform Judaism (ECE-URJ) in Atlanta.

During the four-day conference, our organization officially approved the by-laws and elected officers of the board for the first time. We look forward to our formal adoption as an affiliate of the URJ which will take place later this spring. Rabbi Jan Katzew, director of education for the URJ, described the emergence of our group of Early Childhood Educators as "a moment of radical change" as he officially installed the ECE-URJ's first president, Cathy Rolland, along with the officers of the first board.

The conference offered many opportunities to enrich ourselves both professionally and spiritually. I attended a variety of workshops, networking sessions, musical performances and organizational meetings, in addition to developing many personal connections. Highlights of the weekend included celebrating Shabbat while we visited two of the Atlanta host congregations. Since the conference took place over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, we also visited the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center and Ebenezer Baptist Church. It was an especially moving and memorable moment when our group celebrated our Havdalah service at the tomb of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am grateful to Shaaray Tefila for giving me the opportunity to participate in this important conference and I look forward to sharing my newly acquired knowledge with the members of our community.

Sari Luck Schneider
Early Childhood Director