By Diana Brement,
JTNews Columnist
Even though he is now an Ohio resident, and has been for a while, Sam Chestnut says he draws upon his education at the Seattle Hebrew Academy and growing up in Seattle, “almost weekly in my professional experience,” calling the school “one of the key foundations” of his Jewish identity.
Sam was recently installed as director of the Ratner School in Pepper Pike, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb. He’s been working at the Jewish day school for the past five years as assistant director and co-director, and took over for the retiring director.
His parents, Evelyn and Steve Chestnut, attended the installation. They still live in the Seattle area, as do his sister and two brothers.
“I still have very strong ties to Seattle,” says Sam, who tries to get back at least twice a year.
The Ratner School serves 220 students from preschool through 8th grade. While a Jewish school, it has many non-Jewish students, because “we care about diversity,” Sam explains. “Families who are interested in having that experience are drawn here.”
The school has a world cultures curriculum for all students and a more intensive Hebrew and Judaic studies curriculum for those who choose it.
“All of our kids are learning about the various cultural celebrations and philosophies of other cultures,” he says.
The school is also know for its small student-teacher ratio, team teaching, integrated curriculum and support for kids with learning difficulties.
Sam traces his interest in progressive education back to Seattle, saying he was influenced by the Hebrew Academy’s approach and the diversity of Seattle’s Jewish community.
Before the Ratner School, Sam was education director for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association, where he also worked after graduating from Kenyon College.
He also taught at the Lippman Jewish Day School in Akron.
He and his wife, Jennifer, executive director of Hillel at Kent State University, have three children, Seth, 7, Martha, 3, and Jason, four months. For fun, the family enjoys exploring the many parks in the area.
“The outdoors is a big part of my life, also inspired by the Northwest,” he says.
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Steve Shulman, owner of the Leschi Market in Seattle, has not been content to be just a grocer. He became a neighborhood crime fighter and community organizer as well. Around 1990, he says, “there were so many burglaries…through Madison Park, Seward Park, Madrona, Leschi,” he says.
Drug activity, including street dealing and crack houses, threatened the health and safety of the area.
“A bunch of us got talking from different neighborhoods and founded the East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition,” a partnership between residents and police. The two groups had to get over their distrust of each other.
“People didn’t want to call 911,” explains Steve, so a tip line was set up.
At monthly meetings, residents would report crime to the police and the police would report on their efforts to fight it. “That was a first around here,” but as a result, the East Precinct became home to Seattle’s first community policing team.
When his father Leonard retired from the store and he took up the reins, Steve got too busy for the coalition, but, he says, “I was asked by [Seattle Police] Chief Kerlikowske to [help] start the Seattle Police Foundation.”
Seattle’s police budget covers mostly salaries and health care, leaving little for equipment and training. “We raise money for the police department, for…things the city just can’t afford or won’t fund,” including extra equipment and specialized training. They’ve bought hostage-negotiating equipment, high-quality digital cameras, and mobile forensic lamps as seen on TV crime shows, for example, and funded community outreach. Another program helped put defibrillators in every police car.
The annual banquet that raises money and honors officers is, “an integral part of what we do,” Steve says.
Giving back to his community is a big part of his business, he adds.
“I can’t tell you how many donations we make to different schools,” he says. “We help the Central Area Senior Center,” and work with neighborhood food banks. It’s nice, he says, to be able to act on “what we learned in Sunday school.”
The Nathan Hale alumnus grew up in Wedgwood, but has lived most of his life in Leschi and other South End neighborhoods.
“I grew up in Temple De Hirsch, but used to go with my grandfather to Bikur Cholim, the old one, especially when it was on Yesler.”
The market is a family business, first owned by his great-uncle and aunt, Hank and Shirley Edelson.
When he has a little time for fun, Steve likes to go out with his dogs, two golden retrievers, the younger of which is a rescue dog with epilepsy. Otherwise, “I’m a seven-day-a-weeker,” at work, where, thanks to customer loyalty, he’s keeping the economic downturn at bay.
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Oops: In my last column about writer Miryam Gordon, I misstated the title of her book. It’s actually Money Sucks: Money Strategies for Real Life. The Web site is www.moneysucksthebook.com.