Trump Master Teacher Award 2021

Since 2012, the Trump Master Teacher Award has celebrated and recognized outstanding teachers of mathematics and the sciences in Israel’s schools. During the first six years, in alignment with the foundation’s roadmap, the prize committee concentrated on identifying excellent high school teachers of the five-unit track. In recent years, following the transition of the foundation’s focus to middle schools, the prize shifted towards exposing excellence in teaching applied mathematics and the sciences in middle school.

In 2020, the selection committee sought to identify teachers who succeeded in maintaining high levels of excellence throughout the COVID-19 period. During lockdowns and closures, teachers had to make use of online digital platforms and to adapt their teaching. The selection committee therefore chose five finalists from among 40 candidates, reviewed, and analyzed their online lessons.

Following individual interviews, the winner selected was Yifat Schechter, a mathematics teacher at the Rodman Middle School in Kiryat Yam. Honorable mentions were awarded to Orit Avital-Levi, a mathematics teacher at the Sulam Tsor Regional High School in Kibbutz Gesher Haziv and to Dana Avrian, a science teacher at the Borochov Middle School in Givatayim.

In 2021, in honor of a decade of granting the award, we propose to celebrate the occasion. Candidates will be both from middle school and high school, and the selection committee will be comprised of previous award alumni. The prize will be awarded at a special event held for 150 guests to which all the finalists of previous years will be invited, together with their families, as well as others who have been affiliated with the award over the years.

In addition, in order to mark ten years of the award, at the gala, a special booklet entitled “Education in Israel in Ten Years: The Vision of Ten Excellent Teachers” will be distributed. It will present a collection of brief articles written by ten of the previous finalists. Similar to previous cycles, a media campaign using digital media will expose the prize to the public.

* The text  above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors / Grant 433