Rabbi Eli Perles, a Judaic studies special education teacher, was recognized earlier this month for his outstanding work and named the recipient of the second annual Avi West Jewish Educator Award.
The award provides up to $5,000 for the professional development of a local teacher who exemplifies the spirit and passion of the late Avi West, a community educator that had a love of Jewish life, Israel and all Jews.
Perles was recognized for his work with Sulam, an inclusion program within Jewish day schools in the Greater Washington, D.C., area that assists students with a wide range of learning differences to provide them with the best educational experience for their particular situation. He has spent 12 years at Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville.
“I love it [my work]. It’s my passion. My wife always says that I come home, and I talk about things in general and how I’m loving what I’m doing. She’s like, ‘Are you sure you’re working?’ Yes, it’s work. But I guess when you love something, it doesn’t feel like it,” Perles said.
Perles said that after spending time in Israel and graduating from high school, he was searching for a path and, while nothing specific called out to him, he knew he wanted to help people.
The revelation came when Perles had a conversation with a person in special education and immediately knew that’s what he wanted to do.
“The second he [spoke about special education], I was like, ‘Oh, that’s it.’ From there, I tested the waters, and I did some work as an intern volunteering in different schools and working in camps. From that moment on, I was like, ‘OK, that’s it.’ And it’s been so ever since,” Perles said.
Perles has worked hard at his craft, receiving a master’s degree in special education from Johns Hopkins University and ordination from Ner Israel Rabbinical College. That skillset gave him a fit in Jewish classrooms with Sulam, working to make Torah learning accessible to everyone.
On top of his work as a teacher, Perles develops curriculum, mentors early-career teachers and provides professional development workshops on new educational techniques, an area of study that his peers say he constantly monitors.
Perles is well regarded for incorporating research-based learning practices into the classroom. He has championed methods known as project-based learning and universal design for learning, applying them to Judaic studies.
He said project-based learning puts the “students in the driver’s seat” with their education and works well in meeting everyone’s unique needs, allowing him to facilitate their learning with personalized instruction.
“It keeps everybody engaged. It breaks it [content] down further in ways that can break it down on their level, with each student on their level. You can have a classroom with kids … and it will be on their own level, working at their own pace,” Perles said.
Perles said that one of the best parts of the Sulam program is that the students have inclusion with the rest of the school because they provide different support levels for every class.
That could include a Sulam staff member supporting a student within the background of a class or a separate small group class with students for a particular subject, based on individual needs.
“We’ll have students be totally included in Berman, so a student [in Sulam] doesn’t view themselves as a Sulam student. They view themselves as a Berman student,” Perles said.
The 12 years that Perles has spent with Sulam have helped him grow as an educator and as a person by encouraging him to take risks, pushing him to step up his game as an educator continually and providing support throughout his journey.
He said that his mentorship work has been an important developmental step for himself along with the mentee, making sure that he doesn’t become stagnant.
That mindset is why Perles believes he fits the criteria for the Avi West Jewish Educator Award. He said that after winning the award, he was contacted by many people that knew West, and they spoke about the similarities in their teaching styles and passion for spreading Jewish learning.
“What is so amazing about Rabbi Perles is that his work in the community speaks loudly for itself. Rabbi Perles exemplifies passion and dedication to the field of Jewish education through the use of innovation, inclusion and hands-on learning. All of these are traits my father strove to uphold in his teaching career,” Liron West Silbert, West’s daughter, said in a written statement.
Perles hopes to continue to bring energy to classrooms, moving kids closer to Judaism and opening the doors for everyone to be a part.
“There’s nothing more that I love than learning Torah and teaching. And I love passing that on to others. That’s my passion, wanting to get these kids closer to Hashem and get them more passionate about their Judaism. And when I’m in the classroom and I’m teaching it, I’m hoping it comes out,” Perles said. “I want it to come alive, and I want the kids
to see that.”