TORONTO — Having served Bialik Hebrew Day School for nearly five decades, Ziona Hagler will be honoured for her retirement next month at a gala event to thank her for her dedication to Jewish education in Toronto.

“This is an unprecedented [amount] of time for someone to be at a school. We did check the Guinness Book of World Records, Shana Harris, Bialik’s head of school, said with a laugh. “But she didn’t qualify. It’s probably unprecedented in Toronto.”

Harris, who has known and worked with Hagler for 29 years, and whose children were taught by her, said that despite Hagler’s 49 years at the school, her energy and passion never wavered.

“That’s why we felt that we wanted to honour her with a tribute dinner and really give her the honour she deserves,” she said.

The event, scheduled for May 6 at The Warehouse at Downsview Park, will raise funds for the Ziona and Dan Hagler Tuition Support Fund.

In an interview with The CJN, Hagler explained that she moved to Toronto in 1966, after being sent from Israel to Cleveland by the Jewish Agency for Israel.

“I got the job with Bialik before I moved. I was in the [United] States. I was sent by the Jewish Agency to Cleveland, but they begged us to come to Toronto, and they arranged the visa for us,” Hagler said.

“The original plan was to stay for a few years and then go back [to Israel]… But I felt that I was doing a mission. And my family in Israel also felt that my mission was to educate children in the Diaspora and to teach them the love of Israel and the language.”

Sandy Brown, past president of the school, a board member, and a friend of Hagler’s for more than 40 years, said Hagler was the “Zionist heart and soul of the school.”

Speaking about all the work she has done to bring extra-curricular activities and programs to the school, Brown said, “that’s one of the things… we’ll miss when she’s gone because I don’t know that she’s replaceable in that area. It’s quite sad in my view, bittersweet, that we’ll be missing out on that contribution that she’s made to the school,” Brown said.

“She has made her work at Bialik her life… she has got a lot of energy and it is infectious. You can’t be around her and not feel that you’ve got to do something,” Brown said, adding that Hagler, who is now in her 70s, is a generous, caring, devoted and determined educator. 

Harris said that although Hagler hasn’t been in a classroom setting for about 20 years, she has been immersed in the co-curricular work, including the shinshinim program, which brings Israeli high school graduates to the Diaspora to volunteer for a year to educate the community about Israel and Israeli culture.

“She’s like the savta  [grandmother] to the shinshinim,” Harris said.

“She really cared deeply about the students and wanted the students to have the best experiences and to develop ahavat Yisrael, a love of Israel, a commitment to Israel, a connection to Israel and I think she worked hard on that.”

She added that Hagler also ran all of the Grade 8 graduation trips to cities such as Boston, Washington and New York, and she always put her heart into planning the trips and providing meaningful experiences for the students.

“I think we’ll miss her creativity that she put into every celebration that she co-ordinated and her energy and passion for Jewish education,” Harris said.

“I think she leaves a very rich legacy at the school in the way she created celebrations and tried to put a spirit of Zionism and Israel in the school.”

Hagler said the most rewarding part of her decades at Bialik was witnessing the results of her work.

“When students come to say things like, ‘Thank you, it’s because of you that we know the language,’ those are my rewards,” Hagler said.

As for her retirement plans, she said she plans to spend time with her daughter and three grandchildren.

She said she’ll miss working with the students, teachers and administration. 

“I had a very good time here. Everyone was so good to me,” she said. “I’m really very emotional. I never expected such an honour.”