Sarah Lefton ’95 & Adam Schuster ’05
Torah ’Toons
Sarah Lefton ’95
Like many Jewish children, Sarah Lefton attended Sunday school, went to Jewish sum – mer camps, and had a bat mitzvah upon coming of age. However, a few years after graduating as a College Scholar, she came to realize that she didn’t have a deep understanding of the Bible. So, drawing on her experience as a producer of short films, the San Francisco resident began animating portions of the Torah (Jewish Bible) as a learning aid. What started as a hobby quickly grew into a popular website with support from a local philanthropist and Jewish education organizations. Now, as the executive director and producer of G-dcast.com (rhymes with “podcast”), Lefton aims to make learning the fundamentals of Judaism fun.
Lefton—with the help of a diverse group of artists, writers, narrators, composers, and other collaborators from around the world—produces animated videos that bring the Torah and stories about Jewish traditions to life. With music, rhyme, and simple narration, each episode depicts the lessons behind Torah portions or holidays like Rosh Hashanah and Passover. “We want to help students who are having trouble getting interested in the text,” she says, “to help them crack it open a little bit.” Lefton also encourages cooperative learning by providing teacher’s guides and a “Table Talk” section for families.
With the Torah series completed and a project to animate the stories of the prophets under way, Lefton hopes her virtual storytelling will continue to bring the Bible to life for both children and adults. “That’s really what I’m passionate about,” she says, “making difficult-to-understand ideas simple.”
A League of Their Own
Adam Schuster ’05
Adam Schuster is a lawyer who gets to bring a baseball glove to work.
Schuster is director of human resources and legal affairs at Harlem RBI, a youth development organization that uses sports to empower underserved inner-city residents. In addition to baseball and softball leagues, the nonprofit offers tutoring programs and prep for job interviews, SATs, and college applications. “We use baseball and softball as the hook, but they really aren’t what we’re about,” Schuster says. “We’re about developing the child, getting them on the path to college, and making sure they’re set up to make proper life decisions.”
A communication major on the Hill, Schuster earned a law degree from Syracuse University and spent a year as an employment benefits attorney at the Manhattan law firm of Skadden Arps. At Harlem RBI, he’s in charge of more than 250 employees and 175 volunteers—mentors, teachers, coaches, and tutors—that serve some 1,000 youth aged five to twenty-one. “All of my colleagues are working—understaffed and for not that much money—to serve kids,” says Schuster, who often plays in staff softball games and spends lunchtime watching kids play baseball. “That’s why I have a passion to go above and beyond.”