10 Young Chabad Principals Intensive Training in Miami

On Sunday through Tuesday of last week, ten Chabad principals from around the United States and Canada gathered at the Lubavitch Educational Center of Miami for three days of intensive training in school leadership.

The group represents the seventh cohort of the Menachem Education Foundation’s acclaimed Principal Training Program, which gives school educational leaders the tools they need to successfully manage and develop their Chinuch institutions.

Participants learned about the role and responsibilities of a school principal from leading educators and discovered new ways to mentor and support their teachers. The program was led by Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum of Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh.

Throughout the three-days of learning, the principals focused on practical ways to ensure that every student in their school is successful not only in learning but also in internalizing Darkei Hachassidus. This event was the first of many that will be scheduled throughout the year, along with ongoing one-on-one mentoring between young principals and established Mechanchim.

On Monday night, Levi Drimmer arranged a lavish Farbrengen and dinner to honor the principals’ important role in Chinuch. Principals heard from Rabbi Ari Schottenstein and businessmen Mr. Yossi Kazarnovsky and Mr. Danny Shapiro on how to work with various stakeholders and lay leaders in their joint goals to help Chinuch grow and flourish.

Program participant Rabbi Levi Krinsky, who is currently part of the Leadership at JETS, recalls growing up in Crown Heights thinking that “the main thing to do is to become a Shliach.”

“I soon realized that the call of the hour today is to be involved in Chinuch,” Rabbi Krinsky notes. “I am grateful to have a program that focuses on building our skills in this area so that we can be Matzliach in our unique Shlichus.”

Rabbi Eli Smith, a veteran menahel at LEC, says he has previously participated in many different training programs. “What is so different about this specific program is the one-of-a-kind mentoring component. By working directly with other Chabad Menahelim who have been there and done that it helps us transform theoretical ideas into actionable items.”

With the success of this first event, Rabbi Smith says he is eagerly looking forward to the remainder of the yearlong program.

Rabbi Zalman Shneur, executive director of the Menachem Education Foundation, explains that it has always been the organization’s goal to invest in the Chinuch community through building the capacity of participants into becoming eventual instructors.

“When we created the first principal program ten years ago, we put in the contract that the principals we are training will come back to train others,” Shneur says. “Baruch Hashem, those early investments paid off and we now have the ability to build our own capacity from within. It is a dream come true to see experienced Chabad Menahelim giving over their training and experience to a younger generation. Lubavitch is so rich in educational talent and we are on the path to the building the best Chinuch system ever that will make the Rebbe proud.”