(One minute read)
We all need at least one person in our lives who truly roots for us.
On this visit to Eretz Yisroel, I paid a visit to someone special who, unknowingly, has cheered me on for over 25 years.
Dr. Jeffrey Glanz was my professor when I started Sara Schenirer/College of Staten Island in 1996. His specialty is education, and he is a true master educator and phenomenal teacher. To this day, when I teach social skills to large groups of students in regular classrooms, I use the techniques he modeled for us to keep my students engaged in the learning process.
I was lucky to have Dr. Glanz again in graduate school for special education, where he taught me courses in Classroom Management, Behavior Management, and so forth. And he was the professor for my thesis course, in which he allowed me to do a psychologically inclined topic instead of something more educational despite that my Master’s degree was in Special Education.
A true educator allows students to explore topics that they are passionate about instead of forcing them into a little prescribed box.
Naturally, I had fond memories of Dr. Glanz.
In 2014, I learned that he had taken a position at Yeshiva University’s doctoral program. I emailed him and asked him if one of his students would do a dissertation on the Red and Green Behavior system. His response? “Go back to school for your doctorate and do the dissertation yourself!” I thought he was kidding. So I called him and reminded him that I had been his student 18 years ago, and I was probably too old to go back to school. He told me that he still remembered me and that I was NOT TOO OLD at all! I took his advice and went back to graduate school (easier said than done…)
When it came time to do my dissertation, I needed a committee of three professors to be on my dissertation team. Since Red Green Behavior Therapy combines psychological and educational ideas and techniques, I wanted to have two psychology professors and one educational professor. I contacted Dr. Glanz but I discovered that he made aliyah and was living in Israel. Would my school allow a professor to be on my team if he couldn’t be physically present for the defense?
To make a long story short, I got the go ahead to have Dr. Glanz on my team. Not only that, but by the time I defended my dissertation, it was just one month into COVID and ALL three professors on my committee zoomed in for the dissertation defense as school was on Zoom! Talk about Hashgacha Pratis…
Now that I’m in Israel, I had the pleasure of paying a visit to Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Yoseif Glanz and thanking him in person!
It is my turn to pay it forward. I’ll try to remember that it’s these small little messages of believing in and encouraging students and children that can change the course of their lives!
Can you share your story of who had an impact on your life and how they conveyed their encouragement and support?
Have an inspiring week!
Yours,
Devora