The Shefa Center Events

Please join us for virtual workshops designed for K-8 educators looking to gain concrete tools, skills, and frameworks for teaching reading and/or math.

Please email center@shefaschool.org if you have any questions.

Summer Workshop Instructor Bios

Cara Jordan is the Middle School Language Arts & Writing Coordinator and was a founding lead teacher at the Shefa School. Cara graduated with her B.A. in English from the University of Michigan and completed her Masters in Childhood Regular and Special Education and Literacy from Manhattanville College. Prior to joining Shefa, she was a Language Arts and Writing teacher at the Windward School in White Plains. With over 12 years of teaching experience, Cara collaborates with and mentors the Language Arts and Writing teachers as well as creates curriculum with a focus on integrating the Language Arts and Writing program throughout content areas. She presents professional development workshops in reading, vocabulary and strategies for writing and study skills. Cara has extensive experience with The Hochman Method and the PAF Reading Program and provides training and coaching to teachers in their implementation of the programs.

Linda Maleh is the Assistant Head of the Lower School and Lower School Math Coordinator at Shefa. Prior to joining Shefa as a founding lead teacher, she taught at the Mary McDowell Friends School in Brooklyn. Linda has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and English from Hunter College, a Master of Science in Childhood General and Special Education from Bank Street College of Education, and a Masters of Education in Teacher Leadership from Brandeis University. Linda has spent the past eight years implementing Marilyn Zecher’s Multisensory Math program at Shefa by coaching the lower school math teachers, delivering training and professional development for faculty, and overseeing math curriculum development and assessment. Linda is currently completing her instructor of Multisensory Math teachers certification with Marilyn. She has presented with Marilyn at the IDA conference in Atlanta in 2017 and has taught workshops at other schools.

Deirdre “Dee” McKechnie is a Lower School Reading Coordinator at the Shefa School. She was formerly Coordinator of Educational Outreach for The Windward Institute and for the past three years has provided PAF professional development to individual schools and teachers. Additionally, she was a Language Arts and Writing teacher in Windward’s Lower School for six years, where she taught 2nd and 3rd grade. Dee earned her Bachelor of Science in communication studies from Northwestern University and completed her postgraduate degree in education at the Institute of Education, University of London. During her twenty-plus years of experience, she has served as a reading support teacher in a general education school and has used multisensory reading instruction in a range of educational settings. She is also a certified IMSLEC (The International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council) Instructor. Dee was the recipient of the Sandi Galst Scholar award, which recognizes an outstanding Windward reading teacher.

Brittany Zucker is a Lower School Reading Coordinator at the Shefa School. She is ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) certified, is certified in Orton-Gillingham at the Associate Level through the Orton-Gillingham Academy (OGA) and is a certified Structured Literacy Dyslexia Interventionist through the International Dyslexia Association (IDA). Brittany earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Communicative Disorders from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Masters of Science degree from Hunter College in Speech-Language Pathology. She is trained in the PAF Reading Program, Heggerty and The Hochman Method and works closely with Shefa’s lower school reading teachers by providing training and coaching. Additionally, she creates curriculum with a focus on integrating language and literacy and presents professional development workshops. Most recently, Brittany co-authored the book The Speech-Language Pathologist’s Guide To Dyslexia, which assists professionals in identifying and providing evidence-based intervention to children with dyslexia.

The Shefa Center is excited to present two webinars on the topics of ADHD and Executive Functioning, presented by experts from The Shefa School. Lately, it seems that there is a proliferation of children (and adults) who are struggling with attention, organization, time management, and self-regulation. What underlies these challenges, and what can we do to help everyone succeed despite them?

These webinars are designed for parents, educators, and others who work with children. Please join us for one or both – each presentation stands on its own, and they are even better in combination.