The Jewish Women’s Archive (JWA) has announced the 2016 winners of the Natalia Twersky Award for Educators. Awarded to educators who exemplify the creative use of primary sources to incorporate the voices and stories of Jewish women into their teaching, this year’s first-place Twersky Prize goes to Yedida Kanfer, Coordinator of Education Services at the JFCS Holocaust Center in San Francisco. The finalist (second-place winner) is Audrey Abade, Chair of the Jewish History Department at Magen David Yeshivah High School in Brooklyn, NY. The prize confers cash awards to the winner and finalist.

The Twersky Award, first offered in 2012, is named for Natalia Twersky, a champion of Jewish education and the mother of JWA founding executive director Gail Reimer. Educators may nominate themselves or others for the award, and candidates undergo a rigorous application process, that includes submitting an original lesson plan. Winners are selected by an outside award committee, and winning lesson plans become part of JWA’s curricula on jwa.org, offered to educators around the world. Learn more at jwa.org/twersky.