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Celebrating Hanukkah with The Queen of Jewish Romance & Jewish Joy Con, Mar. '26 in Florida.

Joining us to celebrate Hanukkah is writer and former New Yorker, Jean Meltzer [https://jeanmeltzer.com/]- also known as - “The Queen of Jewish Romance.”, for her new book THE EIGHT HEARTBREAKS OF HANUKKAH. Jean is also announcing a groundbreaking first-ever 3-day event called Jewish Joy Con [https://www.thejewishjoycon.com/], celebrating the best in Jewish pop-culture, storytelling, and creativity, scheduled for next March in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Prior to becoming an author, JEAN MELTZER studied dramatic writing at NYU Tisch and built a successful career in television, earning multiple accolades including a National Daytime Emmy Award. She is the recipient of several writing honors, a Booklist Top Ten Romances for 2023, a starred review in Kirkus, a starred review in Booklist, and LibraryReads.

Teaching Matters on AI in the Classroom

Ready or not, AI has arrived. Rather than avoid it, how can we embrace it, and use it to our advantage? For the next few minutes, we talk about AI in the classroom, and how can it can help teachers amplify — not replace — human coaching. Carolyne Quintana is the new CEO of Teaching Matters [https://teachingmatters.org/] and former Deputy Chancellor of Teaching and Learning at the NYC Department of Education. Teaching Matters works with schools to enrich professional learning for educators that is evidence-based, culturally responsive, and proven to increase teacher effectiveness.

GROWING UP IN PUBLIC: Coming of Age in a Digital World

Dr. Devorah Heitner [https://devorahheitner.com/]’s book, GROWING UP IN PUBLIC: Coming of Age in a Digital World, is designed to help caregivers, educators, and kids navigate growing up in a world where nearly every moment of their lives can be shared and compared. Dr. Devorah Heitner’s writing on kids and technology has appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Fast Company and others. She earned a PhD in Media/Technology and Society from Northwestern University.

AARP-NY on Caregivers, Accessing Benefits and Avoiding Scams for Seniors

New York State has one of the largest populations of adults over 60, and the older adult population is growing faster than any other group.  AARP-NY [https://states.aarp.org/new-york/] State Director Beth Finkel returns to discuss accessing benefits, caregivers, and while it’s a year-round topic, during the holidays it’s especially important to talk about scams and fraud prevention for seniors.

The Fresh Air Fund's College Connections Program Helping With College Applications

The Fresh Air Fund is a New York City institution, a 150-year old nonprofit known for summer adventures for urban kids with their signature Volunteer Host Family programs and free sleep-away camps. Among their year-round programs is the College Connections Program [https://freshair.org/college-connections/] for high schoolers which hosts workshops to help students with the college application process. Bentley Gordon is the Director of the College Connections Program.