Florence Melton Award 2014
/SPECIAL FOR THE AJT/
Dr. Shelley Buxbaum, MJCCA’s Director of the Lisa F. Brill Institute for Jewish Learning and the MJCCA’s Florence Melton Adult School of Jewish Learning recently accepted the 2014 Florence Melton Award, which honors outstanding achievement and exemplary practices in the field of Jewish Learning, on behalf of the MJCCA’s Melton School.
Melton CEO Judy Mars Kupchan presented Dr. Buxbaum with the award when she and Janice Wolf, CFO of the MJCCA, attended the 19th Annual International Directors Conference held at Camp Young Judea in Wimberley, Texas.
Gail Luxenberg, MJCCA CEO said, “We are pleased to receive national recognition for our Melton School, a program that now has 10 partnering agencies, city-wide. This award truly exemplifies Shelley’s dedication and level of expertise, as the director of one of the world’s largest Melton Schools.”
Ms. Kupchan presented the award to Dr. Buxbaum on the opening day of the International Directors Conference. The award was established in 2009 to memorialize the founder of the Melton School, Florence Melton, recognizing one Melton School whose accomplishments are outstanding.
The annual International Directors Conference brings directors from the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and South Africa to focus on professional development, sharing best practices, and growing Jewishly.
Shelley Buxbaum
Shelley is a three-time graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary, having earned Bachelor of Religious Education, MA and PhD degrees. Additionally, she graduated from Barnard College with a BA in Religion and Anthropology.
Along the way to earning her PhD, she attended Bank Street College and was invited to the Hebrew University as a visiting scholar.
After serving as a Jewish educator in New York City, Stamford, Conn., and West Palm Beach, Fla, Shelley moved to Atlanta in 2009 when she joined the staff of the MJCCA as Di- rector of the Lisa Brill Institute of Jewish Learning and Director of the Florence Melton Adult School of Jewish Learning.
She has taught Judaic programming at the MJCCA since July 2009. The program now has 400 students, 25-plus classes, and multiple locations all over metro Atlanta.
About the MJCCA’S Florence Melton Adult School of Jewish Learning
The MJCCA’s Melton school is sponsored in affiliation with the internationally acclaimed Melton Cen- ter for Jewish Education in the Diaspora, at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
The Florence Melton Adult School of Jewish Learning is the largest pluralistic adult Jewish education network in the world.
Classes integrate Jewish history, law, language, practices, and ideas through study of primary sources and group discussion. Designed to accommodate “real life” – there are no prerequisites, grades, exams, outside reading, or homework.
Now registering for second semester classes that begin Jan. 2014. For information, contact Laurie Finkelstein at (678) 812- 3723, or Laurie.finkelstein@atlantajcc.org.
For a complete schedule of classes, visit www.atlan- tajcc.org/brill.
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