Charlotte Koven, Principal, Hebrew and Religious School

When my daughters were still very young, a chance ad in the Canadian Jewish News caught my attention. The Board of Jewish Education was offering a training program for Jewish educators. It would mean a minimum three-month commitment. The course was beginning on Monday (it was now Friday), so if I was ready for the challenge it meant I had to get a lot of child care organized fast! In the first month, one of my teachers asked me where I was teaching and when I told her I wasn't, she told me to call her friend Sandy Rabin at Temple Sinai "that very day." By the end of the interview I was offered a choice of Grades 3 or 5. This chance meeting in 1982 was the beginning of a transformative and enriching experience that continues to this day.

Previously my working background was in residential and school settings with emotionally disturbed children and their families. After a 14 month trip around the world I got involved with Jewish charitable organizations here in Toronto, who needed help with their administrative functions.

I have found that my past professional experiences and academic achievements have served me well in my work here. My training in leadership development through my many years in Young Judaea, my years in Israel at the Machon L'Madrichei Chutz L'Aretz as well as ulpan on Kibbutz Revivim and subsequent trips there, and my growth through parenthood, have contributed to my goal of life-long learning.

Thank you Temple Sinai for having given me such varied opportunities for personal and professional growth and for the wonderful connections I have made with the parents, students and faculties of this fine school. May we all go "from strength to strength."