Led by the belief that educators share the future of our people, The Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven is proud to present the Award for Excellence in Jewish Education to recognize the outstanding educators among us. Our educators play a vital role in expanding Jewish identity, nurturing spirits and providing a Jewish lens through which to make the most of every day.

Congratulations to Jewish educator Hadassah Karolina Buchwald-Pawlak of Bais Chana Academy High School for Girls in Orange. She was nominated because of her ability to connect with students in a caring and compassionate way, the depth of her experiential teaching and her adaptability to changing situations in the school environment.

Outside of her teaching in the classroom and other projects, Buchwald-Pawlak helped organize and participated in a Holocaust Remembrance Tour to Poland and Prague with her students. She also helped initiate a Jewish Grave Preservation project to clean Jewish gravestones at the East Haven Jewish Cemetery.

“Hadassah Buchwald poses all the qualities we look for in an educator. She is smart, knowledgeable compassionate and, most of all, inspiring to her students. Her outstanding technology skills were evident when she transformed, single-handedly, Beit Chana High School for girls in Orange from classroom learning to Zoom learning, overnight,” says parent Dalya Coleman.