Channie Lundner
Educational Excellence Award
Channie Lundner’s smile has been brightening the halls of JKHA/RKYHS for 18 years. She began in 2004 as an assistant; since then, she has taught children from grades 1 through 5. She is loved and respected by her students (and their parents) for her creativity, diligence, and extraordinarily ability to educate and generate excitement about learning inside the classroom. Anyone who walks into Channie's classroom sees and feels right away, that she believes in creating a strong and warm positive classroom community in which students feel empowered to explore and learn. She recognizes that each child is a different kind of learner, and she strives to meet their individual needs to help them succeed. Since 2014, Channie has been head teacher for the second grade—but her impact spreads throughout the walls of JKHA/RKYHS.
A passionate advocate for learning enrichment, she brings her energy and enthusiasm to General Studies as well as bringing Judaic studies into her classroom. She not only runs the annual Summer Reading Kickoff, but also partners with the Middle School for a Chanukah Math program and helped implement The Writing Revolution program. She finds time to run the Family Sukkot party for Early Childhood and Lower School every year, as well as working with the Judaic Studies department to design engaging and exciting programming for the chagim. Her second-graders partner with the RKYHS Homelessness Awareness Committee to collect clothing for the homeless. Channie also organizes the school-wide Chai Lifeline Toy Drive every year.
An exemplary teacher, Channie partners with the first-grade faculty on a professional development program to bring values into the classroom. She was the pioneer teacher for the Responsive Classroom program, an initiative designed to balance the importance of learning both social-emotional competencies and academic competencies. She is a co-founder of the NICE program to bring teachers together as a community, and serves as a mentor for new teachers. Channie also works closely with the administration as a teacher liaison.
Channie graduated from Stern College with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in psychology and a degree from Sy Syms Business School, and later received her teaching certificate from William Paterson University. She taught in the Early Childhood program at AABJ&D for three years before joining the JKHA community. Channie and her husband Steve have lived in West Orange since 1998 and have three children: Avi (JKHA '10/RKYHS '14), a graduate of Rutgers University currently working in marketing; Danny (JKHA '15/RKYHS '19), currently a junior at Rutgers University; and Eliana, a sophomore at RKYHS.
A passionate advocate for learning enrichment, she brings her energy and enthusiasm to General Studies as well as bringing Judaic studies into her classroom. She not only runs the annual Summer Reading Kickoff, but also partners with the Middle School for a Chanukah Math program and helped implement The Writing Revolution program. She finds time to run the Family Sukkot party for Early Childhood and Lower School every year, as well as working with the Judaic Studies department to design engaging and exciting programming for the chagim. Her second-graders partner with the RKYHS Homelessness Awareness Committee to collect clothing for the homeless. Channie also organizes the school-wide Chai Lifeline Toy Drive every year.
An exemplary teacher, Channie partners with the first-grade faculty on a professional development program to bring values into the classroom. She was the pioneer teacher for the Responsive Classroom program, an initiative designed to balance the importance of learning both social-emotional competencies and academic competencies. She is a co-founder of the NICE program to bring teachers together as a community, and serves as a mentor for new teachers. Channie also works closely with the administration as a teacher liaison.
Channie graduated from Stern College with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in psychology and a degree from Sy Syms Business School, and later received her teaching certificate from William Paterson University. She taught in the Early Childhood program at AABJ&D for three years before joining the JKHA community. Channie and her husband Steve have lived in West Orange since 1998 and have three children: Avi (JKHA '10/RKYHS '14), a graduate of Rutgers University currently working in marketing; Danny (JKHA '15/RKYHS '19), currently a junior at Rutgers University; and Eliana, a sophomore at RKYHS.