"You GET to Be a Beginner": DeLeT Graduates Step into the Classroom

On July 31, 2026, eight new Jewish day school educators crossed the stage at Wilshire Boulevard Temple to become the newest graduates of Hebrew Union College’s DeLeT (Day School Leadership through Teaching) program. The tekkes siyyum, or culmination ceremony, honored McKenzie Nichelle Aloe, Rebecca A. Cohen, Riley Nicole Creditor, Arye Leib Fohrman, Sarahi Liera Morales, Kinsey May McCabe, Liv Jael Reinis, and Joseph L. Seidel as they earned a Certificate in Jewish Day School teaching and a preliminary California teaching credential. 

Lauren Applebaum, Ed.D., Interim Director of the School of Education, welcomed friends, family, and colleagues, telling the candidates that the assembled “want you to know how much we see you, and I hope today reminds you of how many people are standing with you in this sacred work.” She noted that this class brings the DeLeT program past the 200-alumni mark in the 25 years since the program’s founding. She also honored Dr. Bonnie Sharfman, DeLeT’s longtime credential coordinator and induction program leader, who is retiring after 19 years of service. The program’s tradition of gifting each graduate a book for their classroom library will now be known as “Bonnie’s Books” in her honor. 

The ceremony’s d’var Torah, delivered by graduates Rebecca Cohen and Arye Fohrman, explored the idea of chevruta — traditional Jewish study in pairs — as a lens for the cohort’s year together. Drawing on Pirkei Avot and the teachings of the Rambam, they reflected on how the group became more than classmates: “chaverim (friends) who showed up for each other as teachers, students, and friends all at once, turning what could have been a year of isolated struggle into one of shared growth.” 

Graduates Liv Reinis and Kinsey McCabe offered a student reflection that traced the cohort’s journey from strangers to community. Liv spoke about the power of modeling — both the instructional strategy and the example set by DeLeT’s instructors throughout the year, noting that “as emerging teachers, we will certainly be modeling what we can to give our students the best chance at success.” Kinsey described a group bound by curiosity, courage, and mutual support: “Supported. Encouraged. Safe enough to take risks, and to stretch beyond what we thought we were capable of.” She closed with a hope for their own future classrooms: “As we embark on our teaching odyssey, I hope that our students will receive what this cohort offered one another: Courage, Curiosity, Connection, Compassion, Collaboration, Joy, Creativity, Reflection.” Each candidate was then presented by the mentors and clinical educators who guided their student teaching, before the full cohort rose together to applause.

Closing the ceremony, Shelley Lawrence, Director of DeLeT Teacher Education, blessed the graduates with words drawn from the cohort’s summer study of Parashat Bamidbar and its charge to “lift the head” of every individual — to see students fully. Quoting Parker Palmer’s The Courage to Teach, she reminded the new teachers that good teaching flows from identity and integrity, not just technique, and sent them off with blessings of curiosity, community, and a beginner’s mindset: “Remember: you GET to be a beginner. May you go from strength to strength.”