WEST HARTFORD – The Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford will recognize excellence in the classroom and innovative research and work in fields related to Jewish studies at its annual Awards Ceremony, to be held in the university’s Wilde Auditorium on Monday, May 4, at 7 p.m. Sixty-four student and teacher awards will be presented and more than $30,000 in student and teacher scholarships will be awarded in the fields of American Jewish history, Israel studies, Holocaust and genocide studies, and Jewish poetry. In addition, the 2015 Muriel Hoff American Jewish Poetry Award will be announced.

The Greenberg Center has announced the names of the undergraduates majoring or minoring in Judaic studies set to receive academic scholarships. University of Hartford junior Jonah Rothstein will receive the Jerome Caplan Award, the Greenberg Center’s premier leadership award. Other awardees include:

• The Millie and Irving Bercowetz Scholarship: Elaine Lampert;
• Beth S. Kaplan Scholarships: Leah Marquis, Jonah Rothstein, Arieh Fried, Zosh Simonson;
• Judith Wolfson Scholarships: Samantha Gordon and Jonah Rothstein;
• The Jack and Tillie Bayer Scholarships: Isabella Safdie, Arieh Fried, Jonah Rothstein;
• George and Lottie Sherman Scholarships: Heidi Lebeaux, Aaron Greene;
• Louis & Martha Silver Scholarships: Jonah Rothstein and Sarah Greenberg.

Two undergraduates, Elaine Lampert and Nessa Melnick, will be named Fishman Family Fellows in American Jewish History and Jewish Communal Leadership.

In addition, Josh Gischner, Adara Brookler, Samantha Gordon, D.J. Fortine, Jacob Greenberg and Jonah Rothstein will be recognized as 2015 “Teaching Ambassadors” for their work in the community.

Seven Holocaust education awards will be presented. The Joseph Zola Memorial Holocaust Educator Award will be presented to support an established or a new middle or high school curriculum on the Holocaust and genocide. The Korzenik Memorial Holocaust Award will honor the work of a middle or high school teacher for innovative teaching of the lessons of the Holocaust.

• Joseph Korzenik Memorial Professional Development Awards: Grace Braniff and Garett Covino of Frank Scott Bunnell High School in Stratford, for their project “A Lesson on Prejudice: Connecting the Holocaust and Modern Day Bias, Discrimination, and Bullying.”
• Joseph Korzenik Memorial Development Award: Erin Kellogg and Kerry Hartley of Canton High School for their project “Holocaust Viewpoints.”
• Joseph Zola Memorial Holocaust Educator Award: Heidi Fishman of the Crossroads Academy in Norwich, Vt., for the manuscript project “Scraps of Hope: Surviving the Holocaust,” which chronicles her family’s history, told from a ‘second generation’ perspective.
• Joseph Zola Memorial Professional Development Awards: Jim Loughead of EO Smith High School in Storrs for his project “A Study of Hate and the Holocaust,” and Troy Stair of the Classical Magnet High School in Hartford for his project “Crimes Against Humanity: International Justice.”

The 2015 Muriel Hoff American Jewish Poetry Prize will be awarded to Selia Linowes of the University of Hartford, a portion of her series of poems entitled “Shira” will be read at the awards evening.

The Fourth Annual Winners of the Essay (or Creative Work) Contest on American Jewish Life and Culture sponsored by the Fishman Family Fund for American Jewish History will be awarded this year for projects on Jewish Americans who served America in a time of war or peace. Winners include:

• From the Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy in Bloomfield: The second grade class; and students Zahava Brenner, Aliyah Moss, Aaron Schlossberg and Raffi Jeremias.
• From the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford, West Hartford: The second grade class; and students Ava Leshem, Talia Leshem, Summer Neiditz , Sal Katz, Ethan Tiffany, Harry Gold, Eden Raviv, Aaron Rotter, Ruth Nawy, Maia Chameides, Zachary Goldberg and Claire Peikes.

For more information call (860) 768-4964.