Educator Elizabeth Friedman is deepening her ties to Winchester Thurston School by creating a stronger sense of identity for Jewish students. The first grade teacher and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging liaison at Winchester’s lower school started a Jewish Affinity club two years ago. Since its inception, the club has grown from about 10 students to nearly 30.
“Guided by the students’ interests,” the club enables participants to “celebrate some lesser-known holidays,” including Tu B’Shvat, create informational materials about Rosh Hashana and make a scrapbook of Jewish practices, she said.
Friedman created the club to foster greater connections.
“Having a Jewish affinity group helps to support belonging at the school, and for students to be able to come together around something that they have in common,” she said. “Feeling a sense of belonging leads to feeling confident, and feeling comfortable, and feeling safe and able to do their very best.”
Friedman credited the Shadyside-based independent school with providing space and time to develop meaningful experiences. About twice a month, students ages 3 1/2 to 10 meet for different activities. Recently, 17 members of the group traveled to the Heinz History Center and visited with Rauh Jewish Archives Director Eric Lidji. Last year, club members also toured the Biblical Botanical Garden at Rodef Shalom Congregation.
Friedman said she appreciates Winchester’s educational goals. She, her brother and her mother are all graduates of the school; and, having taught at Winchester since 2017, Friedman is proud of her lineage and ability to further the institution’s future.
“Winchester is a space where I feel comfortable and a strong sense of belonging,” she said. “Something that’s special to me is that some of my teachers, who taught me when I was in the Upper School at Winchester, are still teaching, and so they went from being my teachers to being colleagues, which has been a fantastic experience.”
Friedman grew up in Mt. Lebanon and attended Temple Emanuel of South Hills. After graduating from Winchester, she enrolled at Kenyon College.
“I thought that I wanted to become a journalist, but after my sophomore year at Kenyon, at my mom’s encouragement, I worked at Chatham Music and Arts Day Camp,” she said.
The experience proved exhilarating and exhausting. Paired with 3 1/2 and 4-year-olds, Friedman found herself deeply connected to the demographic and the charge.
“After about three or four days I knew that I wanted to become an educator,” she said.
Friedman returned to Kenyon, and though the college lacked an education major she found other ways to continue learning about the field, such as working at the local elementary school. After graduating from Kenyon, she completed a master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania and taught in West Philadelphia.
“That’s really where I think I learned how to connect with students and manage a classroom, and just try to lead always with kindness,” she said.
Friedman completed additional schooling — first a certificate in early education leadership from Harvard University, then a doctorate in educational leadership and management from Drexel University — and began teaching at Winchester. These days, apart from serving first graders and their families, Friedman enjoys playing tennis, crafting and kayaking.
She said she enjoys doing “a lot of things outside of school, but education is really what drives my learning, and kind of my day-to-day.”
After nine years on staff at her alma mater, Friedman said her work with the Jewish Affinity group over the past two years reinforced guiding educational principle.
“What you focus on grows,” she said. PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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