Pardes Launches Global AI Challenge With $5,500 in Prizes for Jewish Educators
Pardes Day School in Miami Beach has launched the Pardes Day School AI for Education Challenge, a new global competition for Jewish educators.
by COLlive Editor · COLliveSome of the strongest new ideas in Jewish education may already exist, hidden inside one teacher’s Drive folder, one administrator’s workflow, or one school WhatsApp chat.
Pardes Day School in Miami Beach has launched the Pardes Day School AI for Education Challenge, a new global competition for Jewish educators.
The Challenge is open to Jewish educators everywhere: teachers, moros, rebbeim, administrators, specialists, IT experts, and support staff.
“Some of the best ideas in Jewish education never travel farther than one classroom or one WhatsApp chat,” said Rabbi Dr. Levi Druin, principal of Pardes Day School. “We created this Challenge to find that work, celebrate the educators behind it, and let it inspire the field.”
The competition is intentionally broad. Entrants may submit anything real they made with AI that helps education and works today. For example: a worksheet, a math review game, a kriah practice tool, a prompting method, a teaching video, a parent-communication workflow, a chatbot, a curriculum tool, or administrative automation. No coding is required, and technical sophistication is not a judging category.
“We are not looking for the most complicated build,” Rabbi Dr. Druin said. “We are looking for something that solves a real problem and genuinely works. One excellent worksheet system may have more impact than a polished app nobody uses.”
Entering requires a write-up of up to 200 words explaining the problem and the solution, along with a video of up to two minutes showing the work in action. The entire process takes about ten minutes.
The video does not need to be polished. An entrant’s face never needs to appear, narration is optional, and a silent screen recording counts. Entrants may upload a video directly from a phone or paste a publicly viewable video link. An additional link to the work itself is optional, but entrants are never required to hand over their tool, prompts, code, or files.
The Challenge will award more than $5,500 in prizes. First Place receives $2,400 toward the AI plan or tools of the winner’s choice, along with a seat on next year’s judging panel. Second Place receives $1,200 and Third Place receives $1,000, also toward the AI plans or tools of the winners’ choice. A separate $1,000 cash Educators’ Choice Award will be selected by the entrants themselves, with each entrant ranking their top three finalist videos and nobody permitted to vote for their own entry.
Entries will be reviewed by a five-person panel that was assembled deliberately as a mix rather than a bench of technologists. Because the Challenge judges educational impact rather than technical polish, Pardes wanted school leaders, veteran classroom teachers, and IT experts sitting alongside those who create and build with AI, so that a simple worksheet system gets weighed as seriously as a fully coded app.
The judges are Avrohom Eliezer Friedman, who has run IT at YTCTE in Miami for more than 20 years and runs a large school-IT community chat; Katy Horowitz, Head of School of Pardes Day School and its preschool division, Gan Katan; Lavi Klein, an AI creator who runs OpenAEye and makes music with AI; Hershy Lasry, an experienced AI builder and coder who works with more than 15 of the largest Jewish schools in the United States; and Chaya Light, a veteran educator from Monsey focused on what actually helps teachers day to day.
Responsible use is a firm requirement. Entries may not include student names, faces, records, grades, or private information. Educators are instructed to use dummy data when demonstrating their work.
Entries opened Monday, July 13 and close Wednesday, July 29 at 11:59 PM Eastern. Finalists will be announced Thursday, August 6, and the winners will be revealed Thursday, August 13, before school starts.
Families, businesses, or foundations interested in sponsoring an award can reach the school at ai@pardesdayschool.org.
Pardes Day School is a Jewish day school in Miami Beach built around close teaching, strong Jewish identity, practical skill-building, and thoughtful innovation.
“Jewish educators are already building the future of education,” Rabbi Dr. Druin said. “Pardes is just building the stage.”
Full details, examples, recording instructions, rules, and the entry form are available at:
https://pardesdayschool.org/ai
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