Kate Louik, an educator whose desire to promote inclusive learning furthered her own Jewish engagement, will be honored by The Branch next month.
The recognition, which includes bestowal of the 2025 Shore-Whitehill Award, aligns with Jewish Disabilities Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month. Established in 2009, JDAIM fosters awareness and inclusion of people with disabilities and mental health conditions.
In conjunction with JDAIM, the Shore-Whitehill Award is given annually to “someone who is a champion of inclusion in the Jewish community,” Alison Karabin, The Branch’s program director, community and partnerships, said.
Receiving this award is an opportunity for reflection and growth, said Louik, Temple Emanuel of South Hills’ senior director and director of the Early Childhood Development Center.
“I would hate for anyone to feel like just because we’re being recognized in this way, that we feel like the work is done,” she said. “There’s that thing, ‘When you know better you do better.’ What you learn as an educator is there’s always more to learn, and so this work goes on. We know what our mission is and we are going to continually learn how to serve that mission more effectively, and we’re going to build partnerships and alliances along the way so that we can do the work even better.”
Louik oversees a staff of 25 teachers and about 120 students. Her responsibilities include creating numerous partnerships, she explained.
“It’s not just about the children, it’s also about their families,” Louik said. “The connection that you have with both children and families when you’re an early childhood educator, you’re really a team. And you’re a team doing the work of serving the child so that they can learn joyfully.”
The philosophy is guided by years of teaching and learning.
Louik’s first post-college job was at P.S. 123, a New York City public school in Harlem.
The role was in a “self-contained special education classroom,” she said. Alongside a paraprofessional, Louik’s classroom had 12 students, “all of whom had disabilities.”
That initial placement, which Louik received after joining Teach for America, an organization committed to empowering future educators, was both an honor and intimidating: “I decided that if I was going to be entrusted with that role, then I was going to do the best I could for those children.”
At the time, Louik, a graduate of Brandeis University, enrolled in a master’s program at Bank Street College of Education and began applying the lessons learned.
After completing her master’s, Louik and her husband, Max, moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Louik taught at Little Blue Preschool. Though she wasn’t working specifically in a special education environment, “I kind of brought that learning along with me,” she said.
Following the few-year stint in Michigan, Louik and her husband moved to Pittsburgh — where Max had grown up. Louik took a job at Imagine Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship; her responsibilities included collaborating with parents and colleagues to develop individualized educational plans for students with special needs. Those tasks, coupled with years of prior experience, furthered Louik’s commitment to inclusive education.
Whether in an early childhood setting or another classroom, “children with disabilities can and often should be educated alongside their typically developing peers,” Louik said. “That model of education is actually really beneficial for both the child with disabilities and the typically developing child as well, because they learn from one another.”
Evidence from more than 280 studies conducted in 25 countries shows that inclusive educational settings can have “substantial benefits for the cognitive and social development” of children with disabilities while also yielding “important positive benefits for all students,” according to researchers and consultants from Abt Global. Teachers and school leaders who are tasked with developing a “better understanding of the individual strengths and needs of every student” also benefit from inclusive education.
Since becoming director of Temple Emanuel’s ECDC in 2020, Louik has worked to create a space that is inclusive for “all children and families,” she said.
In November, she welcomed keynote speakers, colleagues and parents for a one-day conference dedicated to “meaningful inclusion in an early childhood setting.”
The conference afforded participants a unique opportunity to “collect valuable information about ways to support children with disabilities,” but it also highlighted Louik’s unwavering commitment to community, Temple Emanuel Senior Rabbi Aaron Meyer said.
“Kate is an unbelievable advocate for children with disabilities,” he said. “She’s made Temple’s early childhood program a welcoming place for all children, including those with mobility challenges, Down syndrome and kids who have been asked to leave other schools.”
Louik has accomplished these feats, Meyer continued, by meeting each student’s needs, working with teachers and specialists, providing classroom supports and repeatedly partnering with others.
Following the retirement of former Temple Emanuel Executive Director Leslie Hoffman, Louik was named the synagogue’s senior director — a role she took on in addition to her responsibilities as director of the ECDC.
Dividing Hoffman’s portfolio “meant that many of us on staff were sort of directing ourselves in new ways,” Louik said. “It also means even more of a commitment to the institution.”
Increasing time and attention toward Temple Emanuel is an endeavor fueled by appreciation, Louik explained.
Originally from Harwinton, Connecticut, Louik converted to Judaism after returning to Pittsburgh and joining Temple Emanuel — her husband’s childhood congregation.
“Being part of a synagogue community was such a great way to start feeling a part of the Pittsburgh community more broadly,” she said. “When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I made the decision to convert to Judaism. Since then, our life at Temple has become such an important and core part of our life as a family.”
Louik said she jokes that “Temple Emanuel is our home away from home, and now especially, it’s hard to determine if I spend more time at Temple.”
Meyer noted that he could “go on for days” about Louik’s impact on Temple Emanuel.
The educator reciprocated by praising her rabbi and the wider institution.
Parents often want to raise children with a “solid value system in a place where they feel really rooted as part of a community,” she said. “Being a part of Temple Emanuel has allowed us to do that both as adults and as a family.”
Providing that experience for others propels her professional commitment.
“This work is really worth it. It’s really hard work, and that’s one of the reasons that I’m so grateful to work with an amazing team of educators at our school,” she said.
The support teachers constantly provide each other and receive from the wider synagogue community is incredible, she continued: “I’m so lucky to work with an amazing team of colleagues, and that’s the only reason why this work is possible.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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