The Legacy of Sam Baker 

I am honoured to announce this year’s recipient of the Sam Baker Memorial Award for Achievement in the Arts- both Visual and Performing. This is a student who profoundly understands that the arts uniquely represent a subject area that nourishes the soul as well as the mind. In addition to making beautiful and meaningful artwork and a commitment to thoughtful and resonant performances, they are able to reflect deeply on the greater personal and global implications that the Arts provides. They possess not only the skills needed, but also humility, the patience of a saint, perseverance and dedication to the artistic process, producing consistently outstanding work in both the Visual and Performing Arts. This is a student who takes those words from Hamilton to heart:  “Look around, look around”.  They are inspired and ignited by the art in the world around them.  And they will no doubt make their own contributions to that world.  We are honoured to present the Sam Baker Memorial Award for Achievement in the Arts to Leia Herskovitz.

Emily received her award at her home during a live Zoom broadcast of the Leo Baeck graduation ceremony in Jun 2020.

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Click here to see a video of  Sam Shepherd and Jonah Opler (Leo Baeck class of 2014) introducing  Emily as winner of The Sam Baker Award for Achievement in the Arts on June 23, 2020.

I am honoured to announce this year’s recipient of the Sam Baker Memorial Award for Achievement in the Arts- both Visual and Performing.  This is a student who profoundly understands that the arts uniquely represent a subject area that nourishes the soul as well as the mind. In addition to making beautiful and meaningful artwork and his commitment to thoughtful and resonant performances, he is able to reflect deeply on the greater personal and global implications that the Arts provides. He possesses not only the skills needed, but also humility, perseverance and dedication to the artistic process, producing consistently outstanding work in both the Visual and Performing Arts. We are honoured to present the Sam Baker Award for Achievement in the Arts to Lior Markus.

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Click here to see Ms. Gene Teeger's speech about Sam and presenting the award to Lior. 

Mia was the inaugural winner of this award at the Leo Baeck graduation ceremony in June 2019.

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Click here to see a video of  Jonah Opler and Dana Aronowitz (Leo Baeck class of 2014) introducing  the inaugural winner of The Sam Baker Award for Achievement in the Arts on June 25,2019.