THE GLADYS GOLMAN/FAYE DALLEN EDUCATION FUND
Mission of the Fund - The fund’s mission is “to provide financial and educational resources for Dallas area religious school teachers so that they and their students with learning differences can achieve their Jewish educational goals.”
The purpose of the fund is to train religious and day school teachers on how to be successful with children with learning differences in their classroom.
- See a press release about the fund.
- Learn about the Third Annual Zweig Family End of Schoolyear Bash.
The fund is designed to provide training on Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome, ADD/ADHD, Dyslexia and other related neurological conditions.
The fund has been established because training resources and concerted educational programs do NOT exist in Dallas today, due to budgetary constraints and a lack of awareness.
The fund is housed within the Dallas Jewish Community Foundation, and has a 501(c)(3) status. All contributions to the Dallas Jewish Community Foundation are tax-deductible.
We estimate that the fund can impact at least 200 children today in our schools, and well over 100 teachers.
These numbers are expected to grow, as the Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome diagnosis has risen to 1 in 66 boys today from 1 in 1500 10 years ago. Similar growth in diagnosis is being seen with other neurological disorders as well. Everyone is touched on some level or knows a child who can benefit from this fund.
The fund is focused on religious and Jewish day schools, as the Public ISD’s have the resources they need today.
Our fund has already secured the services of Julie Moncrief, Garland ISD’s Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome Intervention Specialist, who will lead our teacher training at the next citywide teacher in-service training day.
A survey done by the Jewish Federation of Dallas indicates that our religious and day schools are in dire need of resources and training.
Dallas lags significantly behind other major cities as far as their attention, awareness, and action in this area. In Chicago, for example, there is a $500,000 endowment for dedicated resources and training for children in religious schools who learn differently. It is critical that we catch up, and the need will only get greater if we do nothing.
Another focus of the fund will be to create a library of books and reference materials for parents, teachers, and student to access to increase awareness and education.
The GGFD Fund will be a sponsor of the February 2008 Yom Limud, the teacher-in-service day. Julie Moncrief will be training hundreds of Dallas-area teachers that day on the best ways to make children with learning differences successful in their classrooms.
The GGFD Fund will be holding a citywide mitzvah project on May 18, 2008 to raise money for the fund. The mitzvah project will engage our children and their families in a day of fun, relaxation, and awareness for the job at hand. We will need the support of our Dallas-area institutions and key leaders for this event to achieve our goals.