Rabbi receives Scholastic Early Childhood Professional Award
Rabbi Meir Muller, director of the Columbia Jewish Day School is honored by Scholastic Early Childhood Today

Rabbi Meir Muller, director of the Columbia Jewish Day School, with some of his students: (L-r) Laurel Raxter, Natassja Johnson, and Andrei Bolshakov

Editor's note: Rabbi Meir Muller is one of five winners of the Scholastic Early Childhood Professional Award. The following is taken from Scholastic Early Childhood Today, November/ December 2006 article.

Parents, teachers, and associates talk glowingly about the extraordinary role Rabbi Meir Muller plays in their lives and those of the children who attend the Columbia Jewish Day School. Called a kind and gentle spirit with a palpable passion for educating children, Rabbi Muller has been the director of the school for the past 15 years.

Jill Frank, a mother of two students, says, "The school combines a commitment to rigorous and challenging intellectual development with nurturing and respectful social and emotional growth. Its remarkable success is due, in part, to the teachers Rabbi Muller has hired, whom he guides and mentors.

Rabbi Muller is a tireless advocate for Columbia Jewish Day. He organizes fund drives to help bring supplies into the school, facilitates field trips to cultural institutions that compliment their studies, and offers teaching opportunities to graduate students in education at the nearby University of South Carolina.

Though 25 percent of the student body is non-Jewish, Rabbi Muller strives to celebrate and incorporate the diverse cultures into the curriculum. Rabbi Muller is often the first adult the children see in the morning upon arrival at the school in his role as the pre-care period facilitator.

Parents and staff laud his sense of humor. Rabbi Muller's contributions reach beyond the school into the surrounding community as well. He serves on South Carolina's Governor's Child Care Council, as well as a number of other organizations.