(FJC.ru) Directors of Jewish schools across the former Soviet Union concluded a major conference this week in the Russian city of S. Petersburg. Some 45 leaders from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Kazakhstan attended the conference, which was hosted by the city's Beit Menachem Or-Avner-Chabad Day School, a modern community Jewish day school.

During the three-day program, participants engaged in lectures and round-table discussions, as well as role-playing scenarios that allowed them to improve their methodological and practical skills as teachers and directors. Presenters concentrated on using the Internet effectively in the classroom. The conference was sponsored by philanthropist Lev Leviev and Or-Avner-Chabad, headquartered in Moscow.

"We are trying to look at issues involving information technologies from a wide perspective," commented Marina Belitskaya, who coordinated this event.

The city's Great Choral Synagogue hosted a concluding banquet, which was attended by Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Menachem Mendel Pewzner, chief rabbi of S. Petersburg, and community chairman Mark Grubarg.