About Our Faculty

This is my third year teaching at Am Yisrael. I’m really excited about this year because of our newly crafted curriculum. In addition to a focus on contemporary Israeli studies and holidays, we’ve added a photography piece: the Jewish Lens (jewishlens.com) is the innovative program we’ll use to explore Jewish life and values through the medium of photography — examining our own images as well as others. You’ll never look at Sunday mornings at shul the same way again!

I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky before attending Indiana and Brandeis Universities, where I met my wife Robin. We live in Skokie with our two sons, Yoni (2) and Noah (1). When I’m not hanging around Am Yisrael, I’m working for Jewish National Fund, traveling around the midwest, raising money for Israel. I’m a career Jewish professional with a passion for Israel and Jewish life and I look forward to sharing my passions with you and your family. See you soon!

I am currently the Youth Director here at Am Yisrael. I have a B.A in Religious Studies from York University in Toronto. My freshman year in college was spent living in Jerusalem and studying at the Conservative Yeshiva. After I graduated, I was a middle school teacher of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School.

Most important to my identity is that I have been a Ramahnik since my Halutzim summer in 1996. Most recently I was the Rosh Edah for Nivonim 2011 (the oldest age group) at Camp Ramah in New England.

This year I aim to connect our kids with kids in Israel though our Classroom-to-Classroom initiative. I would like to continue to expose our youth to the cool, fun and meaningful aspects of living a Jewish lifestyle.

This is will be my third year teaching at the Am Yisrael School of Jewish Studies. I began my relationship with the synagogue 10 years ago when I was the Youth Director. I attended The Ohio State University, where I studied English as my major, with a Yiddish minor. While at OSU, I became involved in the local Jewish Community, where I taught at a local synagogue for 2 years. I continued my education at National Louis University where I received my Masters in Education. In addition to my formal education background, I have spent years in informal education. I have spent 17 summers working at Jewish day camps, 5 years at JCC Chicago as Manager of Vacation Days, and have been involved with various Jewish Youth Groups. As the Aleph teacher, I will help guide our students through a year of Bible Studies, Holidays, Israel, and the beginning of Tefillah (Prayer). I look forward to building a community between our students, the parents, the synagogue and the madrich and myself.

Shalom! This will be my second year on the Am Yisrael staff. I am a junior at New Trier High School and my favorite subjects are History and English. I have a special interest in politics and U.S history and hope to one day become involved in the government or law. I also love to participate in sports, and I will be running track and field in the upcoming winter and spring season. When I was younger I spent five years overseas, four in Hong Kong and one in Singapore. While in Hong Kong I attended a Jewish day school. Doing so made my family much more involved in the Jewish community, and continuing a Jewish lifestyle became a priority. I have also been a camper at Camp Ramah in Canada for five years now, and the combination of camp with Hebrew School has made me appreciate Judaism much more and want to keep it constant in my life. One of the main reasons I work at the synagogue is so that I can help the students understand how beneficial Judaism can be and try to make the learning aspect more fun. I hope this year I can help other students love Judaism the same way my teachers were able to help me do so.

I am the music teacher at Am Yisrael. This is my third year at the school. I was born in the former Soviet Union and moved to the U.S.A. in 1995. I have been teaching music in synagogue schools in the Champaign and Chicago areas for the last 14 years. I also have been a Cantorial Soloist during the High Holiday season at UIC Hillel for 12 years. My High Holiday singing is a very important part of my life. I find Jewish music to be one of the most moving musical genres that I have ever heard. Jewish music is an important part of our culture and our spirit. For some people Jewish music is what helps connect them to our religion and leads to a strong Jewish identity. It is my goal to impart my love for Jewish music to my students.

My name is Batyah Cohen and this is my eighth year teaching at Am Yisrael. I have been in informal Jewish education for 15 years beginning with a regional board position on my local USY chapter in Sharon, Ma, to Montessori Hebrew School in Madison, WI (where I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in English Writing, Hebrew Language and Literature and a minor in Judaic Studies) to finally ending up in Skokie — first teaching at B’nai Emunah and then Am Yisrael. Somewhere in that whole journey, I got married and had five children ranging in ages from 11 yrs to my baby, who just turned one!

I am thrilled to be teaching another year of exciting Heroes and Holidays curriculum. As we delve deep into the texts of the Torah, we’ll discover some major heroes, some unlikely heroes, and of course, some archenemies and evil villains! We will also be taking a closer look at our Jewish Holidays throughout the year examining their meaning and the stories behind their development. I am looking forward to an outstanding year with you at the Am Yisrael School of Jewish Studies.

My name is Jamie Cooper. This is my first year joining the Am Yisrael community as the Bet Class teacher. I am excited to meet all the second graders that I will be working with this upcoming year. I attended Solomon Schechter from Kindergarten through eighth grade and developed a strong background in Judaism and Israel. With my strong love for Israel, I continued my own studies in the Hebrew language and Judaism through high school and college. I attended Indiana University in Bloomington, where I received my bachelor’s degree in elementary education. I am excited to share my knowledge and joy in Jewish prayer, the Hebrew language, Israel, Jewish holidays, and so much more through art projects, literature, music, and other exciting and fun activities. Through the study of Torah, the Bet class will learn about many of the values and morals that we practice through Judaism and connect it to their own daily lives. By participating in activities and applying what they learn students will form a strong community in my classroom with both me and their peers. I am excited to work with the students and staff as a team to accomplish all the goals we set forth together for this year. I look forward to getting to know my students and sharing my love for Israel and Judaism with them.

This is my fourth year working as a madricha here at Am Yisrael! I attend New Trier High School and I am a senior. My favorite class in school is English. Outside of school, I love to ice skate and dance. I am a co-president of the New Trier Figure Skating Club and a member and leader of the Northfield Dance Ensemble at New Trier. Most importantly, I love to experience Judaism at its fullest through USY and OSRUI camp. I am the USY president here at the synagogue and I have been a chapter board member all four years of high school. A goal I have for this year is to get more involvement from our Religious School students in our wonderful youth groups. I love going to youth group and I strongly encourage everyone to get involved! I am looking forward to a great year and seeing all of the kids in class and at youth group events!

I have been working as part of the Am Yisrael team for almost 20 years as the Art Teacher. My education includes both a BFA in Art Education and an MA in Art Therapy/Counseling from the University of Illinois at Chicago, an MJ in Child & Family Law from Loyola University as well as my Jewish Day School education as a graduate of Hillel Torah Day School and Ida Crown Jewish Academy. I enjoy being able to build real relationships with my students by working with all of the grades and seeing them year-to-year. My goals for this year include continuing to mesh the art experience with the rest of the curriculum through art classes and art chugim. My projects will include beautifying the school and synagogue while bringing the joy of art and creativity to my students.

This is my third year being a madricha (aide) in the Am Yisrael School of Jewish Studies. I do a lot of individual work with the students here, whether it is going over the aleph-bet or learning a specific prayer. I am a senior at New Trier this year, and my favorite classes have been Hebrew, Junior English, and Algebra. I spent my second semester sophomore year in Israel with the NFTY-EIE program (and would be happy to explain the program to anyone interested in spending a semester in Israel). At New Trier, I am highly involved in the E.L.S. and Special Olympics programs. E.L.S. is a club for aiding and hanging out in the Special Ed classrooms. This year I will also be on the Board of the club. I volunteer at Our Place, an organization in Wilmette for adults with special needs; I am the Volunteer Coordinator for the volunteers that come from New Trier. I hope to use my knowledge and love of Hebrew and Israel to engage the students at Am Yisrael and help to inspire them to develop their own interests in Jewish living and learning.

I am delighted to begin my third year as a Vav-Zayin teacher at Am Yisrael. Jewish education is both my career and my passion. I have a BS in Special Education from the University of Michigan and an MA as a Reading Disabilities Specialist, as well as additional coursework in school administration and Judaica, including summer studies at the Melton Centre at Hebrew University. I have had a wonderful 25-year career in synagogue school adminstration, directing schools in Buffalo, New York and Fort Worth, Texas and at Congregation Beth Shalom in Northbrook. I am also active in the JEA (Jewish Educators Assembly) on the regional level and am an officer on the national board. I am now doing what I love most: teaching the values and skills that will help our Vav and Zayin students as they grow into Jewish adulthood.

We have ambitious courses of study for both the Vav and Zayin classes for the coming year. In Vav we will be looking at our Jewish Life Cycle and examining important Jewish texts incluing our TaNaKH (Hebrew Bible), Mishna, Talmud, and Shulkhan Arukh. Studies of friendship, kashrut, and bikur holim (the mitzvah of visiting the sick) will incorporate selections from these texts. The Zayin class will be studying Comparative Religion, as we compare Judaism (following a thorough study of Jewish beliefs) with Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. In Zayin we will also work on important tefillot (prayers), not only for reading fluency and accuracy, but to gain an understanding of their meaning as well. Journal writing and “challenges” (brain-teasers) of various kinds are a regular part of our classwork in both grades.

This is my second year working here at Am Yisrael as a madrich, and my twelfth year as either a student or a madrich. I am a senior at Highland Park High School, where my favorite classes are Architecture and Graphic Design. Outside of working at the synagogue, I also am a lifeguard at the Highland Park recreation center and Aqua Park. One of my interests which I pursued this summer was working with children with special needs: I work with a seven year old boy with autism on life skills. Something unique to me is that I have traveled out of the country every year of my life. Even though I lead a busy life in school, clubs, extracurricular activities, sports and jobs I still am involved as the basketball manager and athletics chair on the USY board. I am truly looking forward to seeing all the students again this year and learning even more about Judaism.

I attended Solomon Schechter Day School from Kindergarten through 8^th grade and am about to enroll as a Sophomore in Chicagoland Jewish High School. In school, I love to study history, math and Talmud. Outside of class, I often enjoy playing basketball and various musical instruments, such as the drums, bass guitar and piano. During the summers, I go to Tel Yehudah overnight camp in New York. At camp, I have the wonderful opportunity to learn about Israel and the importance of Zionism today. Over the years I have realized that one of the richest aspects of Judaism is its language, which every Jew should have the option to learn. Using the skills I have acquired through Jewish day school and my summer camp, I greatly look forward to helping the Am Yisrael students improve their Hebrew and bestowing upon them a love for Israel whenever I can. I am thrilled to meet the students and work with them all year to help them gain a better Jewish identity and understanding of the Hebrew language.

Shalom! I was born on the South Side of Chicago, I reside on the North Shore, and part of my heart and soul lives — or comes alive — in Israel. For many years now, I have been engaged in Jewish education as a creator, director, and teacher of Jewish programming, operations, and educational services. I have a broad-based knowledge of, and experience teaching, Biblical, Talmudic and Rabbinic texts (both ancient and modern), Jewish values and ethics, Israel and Holocaust education, Jewish history, ritual and thought.

I like to look forward, and I’d like to think that everything I have learned and shared so far is only a small part of what is to come in the future. But when I do look back, what I dwell on is not my awards or accolades, but rather, two very important things. One is my incredible personal journey toward understanding just what our being Jewish means and requires from us. Two, and most important, are all the people, some older, some younger, and many in-between, that I have been privileged to teach, learn from and study with. I am very excited abut joining Am Yisrael’s teaching staff, and continuing my life’s work of discovering and sharing what our Jewish beliefs and responsibilities mean today. I invite anyone reading this to join me, and therefore I say l’hitraot — I look forward to seeing you!

I am delighted to be beginning my second year as a teacher at Am Yisrael. I have been teaching in day schools and congregational schools in the Chicago area for the last 18 years, and in addition to teaching at Am Yisrael, I am currently a Middle School Jewish Studies teacher at Anshe Emet Day School in the city. I was born in Israel and studied early childhood education and received a bachelors degree at the University of Jerusalem. I am also a certified teacher in the Montessori method of education. I bring this experience and these skills to my passion of teaching at our school. This year I will be teaching Hebrew to the Aleph and Bet classes using our SMARTBoard technology. My main class will be the Gimel group, and we will focus on Hebrew reading acquisition using a textbook called Shalom U’vrachah. We will learn how to write Hebrew script and we will also learn to speak simple Hebrew phrases related to the classroom environment. Additionally, we will learn to read and chant tefillot (prayers) and learn about our homeland, Israel. We will learn about the Jewish holidays using a book from the Tal Am curriculum. The rest of our curriculum can be viewed on the Gimel Class home page. Finally, I will be teaching a chug (elective) about Israeli culture. I am looking forward to a productive year.

Shalom! I am very excited to begin my 31^st year at Am Yisrael. I look forward to teaching the Dalet and Heh Classes. I grew up in Israel, and after I finished my college program I came directly to Chicago. I taught at Solomon Schechter for two years, for five years at Judea Mitzpah, and for sixteen years at the Ida Crown Jewish Academy High School while also teaching at Am Yisrael. I have tutored many students in their Jewish Studies and have also assisted in B’nai Mitzvah preparation. I continue to teach adult Hebrew classes at Am Yisrael. My main goal for the Dalet Class is to help them master fluent Hebrew reading and be able to read and pray from the siddur. One of the true highlights of the year is their performance of the Megillat Esther story fully in Hebrew. My main goals for the Heh Class is to be able help the students learn how to lead Friday night services, the origin of the Jewish holidays, Israel, and Jewish history. As a culmination of their studies, the Heh students will perform a Hebrew musical entitled Siyyum Historia Yehudit. Over the years I have developed a wonderful relationship with many families and am still in touch with several students I have taught here at Am Yisrael.

I am delighted to serve as the Am Yisrael School of Jewish Studies Band Teacher. I come to this position with a great deal of enthusiasm, having performed in numerous musicals and plays as a dancer and singer at New Trier East High School. I spent my summers at the National Music Camp at Interlochen in Michigan and then went on to the University of Utah where I double-majored in dance and musicology. I’ve been blessed with a long performance career in ballet as well as running a successful ballet company. I’ve taught music and dance to children for more than twenty-five years.

A seasoned guitar and piano player, I even have a little bit of experience with the trumpet. If you’ve attended our Friday Night Live service, you’ll recognize me as I have played and sung in the Shabbatones since the very beginning. I also sing with the Am Yisrael High Holiday choir. The power of Jewish music inspires me to a greater depth of spirituality and I hope to impart that to the children I teach.

I’ve taught and served as a librarian for some 30 years, including at Cleveland Sschool in Skokie, where I went to kindergarten, Niles North High School, and the Glenview Public Library. I most enjoyed and did the hardest work of my life teaching fourth grade. Having read with the Gan children last year, I look forward to seeing them again and meeting another class as well. Am Yisrael is a home to me — it’s where I became a Jew 25 years ago. Some people I knew as students are members of our congregation. I have children, grandchildren and live with Alice in south Wilmette.

I have spent ten years at Am Yisrael learning about Judaism and Israel. I started my education here in third grade, and continued through my bat mitzvah and confirmation. I spent last year as a madricha in the Gan class. This year, my senior year, I’ll be back in the Gan class on Sundays with Ms. Washer. I so look forward to seeing all the new faces as the kids come in for their first year of Sunday School! As a student, I attended grade school in Winnetka. For the last three (going on four) years, I have been downtown in the city of Chicago at the public magnet high school Walter Payton College Prep. Growing up, going to Am Yisrael was a central part of my childhood. I look forward to the coming year; I know it will be just as fun and exciting as each before it.

My name is Rebecca Rice and I teach Israeli folk dance at Am Yisrael. For the past several years, I have taught Israeli folk dance at Shir Hadash Reconstructionist Synagogue, and last year, I also taught at Anshe Emet Day School. Dance has always been an important part of my life; I have an MFA in dance and a Masters degree in dance/movement therapy. Since 2001, I have created and presented dance as a means of spiritual expression in worship services at Shir Hadash. For many years, I have enjoyed participating in Israeli folk dancing with Israelis and Americans. I find it is a joyous way to connect to the culture of our people. In Israel, dance is synonymous with celebration and most people growing up in Israel learn folk dances. The music is infused with sounds from different ethnic groups and time periods; some dances were created before the birth of Israel and others are brand new. Today, people across the world enjoy Israeli folk dance—in fact one can watch YouTube videos of Israeli folk dancing from places such as Spain and Japan! My goal is to inspire members of Am Yisrael to experience the joy of Israeli folk dance.

Shalom and welcome to what is going to be an exciting year at the Am Yisrael School of Jewish Studies. This will be my second year teaching at Am Yisrael; however, my love for Judaism as well as teaching both go back a long way. Having grown up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and going through Hebrew school followed by Kadima and USY I learned very early on how much I love Judaism. As I got older I developed a strong passion for sharing my love of Judaism with children and young adults. After returning from my collegiate studies in business sales and management at Illinois State University, I began working part time as a youth advisor on top of my day job as a marketing director for a large company. I fell so much in love with my side job working with youth that I decided to make a career change.

I am now getting to live out my dream as I work as a Jewish educator, youth group director, and now even the kesher (caring) coordinator for Am Yisrael, which allows me to expand the group of people that I can connect with to the entire community. In addition, my career change has allowed me to return to college and get a new degree in elementary education. I also enjoy having more time to spend with my wife Shira and newborn baby daughter Lauri at our home in Vernon Hills. As an educator I enjoy being very hands-on and incorporating tons of new technology and methods into the classroom. A visit to my classroom will most likely find me up and out of my seat, as I am rarely sitting, and all of the students engaged in a Parashat HaShavuah project on the iPads, SmartBoard, or any other piece of technology I can incorporate into the lesson. On a monthly basis you will even find the students heavily engrossed in tefillah study as they use iPods, cd players, iPads, as well as traditional siddurim to navigate their way through the various services. Armed with over 6 years of Judaic teaching experience, a love for Judaism, an insatiable desire to incorporate new technologies into the classroom, as well as a general love for the work I do, I look forward to making this year a memorable one for all who enter my classroom.

I am excited to join the Am Yisrael community this year as a madricha! While the Chicago area is not native to me, as I am originally from Upstate New York, since moving to Chicago I have certainly laid down my roots here within the Jewish community. As I was growing up, I was an active member of the Jewish youth groups USY and NCSY, holding both local and regional board positions. I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a minor in Women’s Studies from the University at Buffalo, where I was an active member of Hillel, the Jewish Student Union, and the Israeli Student Association. Additionally, I co-founded the Middle Eastern Student Association (MESA) at the University at Buffalo after recognizing that the college campus’ Israeli and Arab communities were polarized on a multitude of issues; the mission statement of MESA supported peace among the Israeli and Arab communities among all of the violence and turmoil occurring in the Middle East.

A love for the land of Israel was instilled within me from a very young age, and I have been incredibly fortunate to have visited Israel many times. After graduating from the University at Buffalo, I ventured out to Chicago to receive my master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from the Adler School of Professional Psychology. For the past two years I have worked as a Crisis Intervention therapist with Youth Outreach Services, working with at-risk youth on Chicago’s west side and south side. Additionally, for the past two years I have taught both grade Gimel (5^th grade) and Heh (7^th grade) at Congregation Beth Judea’s Hebrew school. My husband Marc and I have moved to the northwestern suburban community, and have made educating and mentoring Jewish youth our priority! I am overjoyed to announce that our baby girl, Lauri was born this summer and she will certainly be raised with Jewish values and with a love for the land of Israel! I look forward to meeting all of you!

I have been working at the Am Yisrael Religious School since 2004 as the assistant to art teacher Michelle Drucker. Together, we plan fun art projects for the students, ranging from clay dreidels to mosaics of Israel. I enjoy doing arts and crafts and working with the students and want to share my love of both art and Judaism with the students. I hope to help students express their Jewish identities through art, and that students will have fun while doing so. I am a graduate of Am Yisrael Religious School and a member of the congregation as well.

I am proud to say that my identity is strongly related to Judaism. While the foundation for the religion has always been in the home, I greatly acknowledge the influence of Solomon Schechter Day School for 5 years and two trips to Israel, which further laid the foundation for more love and interest in the history, mitzvot, and language of our people. As a freshman at New Trier High School, I continue to study Hebrew language with a tutor and find Shabbat service attendance a nice retreat from the hustle and bustle of the North Shore. When not in the synagogue or school, I can be found referring AYSO games, attending Wolves games or traveling the world with my family. I love being able to pick up a prayer book and read the same language of our people whether it be in Israel, South Carolina, Mexico, France or a cruise ship. It is my hope that I can pass just some of my enthusiasm for what we stand for this coming school year. I would love for you to be the next generation of regular Torah readers on this pulpit!

It is not difficult for anyone to immediately know that I have a Hebrew name. My parents gave me the name Taila Schiff over thirteen years ago and I have been proud of it and being Jewish ever since. I still fondly remember attending Gan Yeladim preschool in Skokie and learning the early prayers. This was the beginning of a journey that led me to Solomon Schechter and onto Sunset Ridge School in Northfield for middle school. I feel so lucky to have traveled to Israel twice and even attended camp there last summer. My Bat Mitzvah last year was not the end of my Jewish education, but just another stop on my journey. I continue to study one-on-one with a tutor every Sunday and look forward to taking Henrew at New Trier High School. I love finding kosher food in restaurants and stores through the countries I have journeyed throughout the world. It is even more exciting to attend Shabbat services wherever I travel. I immediately have a connection with people from many different lands. In addition to regular synagogue attendance, I can be found playing AYSO soccer or refereeing local games or skating on the ice rink. All of the stops on my journey require motivation and dedication. The more you put into it, the more you will get back. I hope we will all put in a lot of positive energy this year and get tons of enthusiasm back.

I am a sophomore at Chicagoland Jewish High School in Deerfield. My favorite subjects are European History and English. I participate on the school’s varsity cross country and basketball teams. I am also a member of the school’s debate team. I attended Solomon Schechter Day School from grades Kindergarten to 8. I have also been a camper at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin for 6 years. I am incredibly excited to be a madrich this year at Am Yisrael. I have a very strong connection to Judaism, Torah, prayer, and the land of Israel. I look forward to sharing my love for all of those things with the students in the upcoming year. I am confident that I can contribute to the learning environment through being an energetic and patient leader.

I have served as Cantor of Am Yisrael Congregation since 1984 after 8 years as Cantor of Northbrook Congregation Ezra-Habonim. In addition to leading all religious services at Am Yisrael, I am responsible for training all the B’nai Mitzvah students and teaching the Confirmation class. Up until a few years ago, I was balancing my cantorial career with my primary vocation as a management executive in the corporate world. I am very happy to now focus all my efforts toward Am Yisrael. Teaching is a joy for me and I love to interact with students of all ages. Our curriculum is fascinating and broad, including the Confirmation class’s focus on history of anti-Semitism and current events with extra concentration on Israel.

I have specific goals that I want my pupils to achieve by the end of the confirmation year. By studying the unit on the history of anti-Semitism, students will understand the dangers of discrimination and will advocate for all people who are afflicted, based upon the horrific experiences of our people. By studying current events, students will increase their worldliness, preparing them for the college campus and beyond. Students will take pride in their Judaism, and understand the importance of the existence of the state of Israel for the continued strength of our people and as a beacon of democracy and righteousness for all nations.

I am a junior at New Trier High School. This year I will be starting as a madricha at Am Yisrael School of Jewish Studies. I am so excited to start working with both the teachers and the kids. I will be working in the art room, which I am especially excited to do since I love art and working with kids. I just graduated from Am Yisrael after seven years of attending the school. My younger sister is currently attending the school. My younger brother will be attending next year. I look forward to a great year.

I am going to be a madrich in the First Grade class. My family and I have been members of Am Yisrael for over ten years. I am a Junior at New Trier High School and I love being around kids. Besides being on the honor roll at New Trier, I play water polo and am a member of the New Trier Boys Swim Team and the New Trier Boys Water Polo team. In addition to my activities at New Trier, I was confirmed at Am Yisrael last year. As part of the confirmation class, I participated in the Shorashim Program that included an unforgetable trip to New York City. My goal is help kids have a positive experience at religious school. I am really looking forward to this year.

Hello! I am currently a student at Glenbrook Off-Campus and Glenbrook South High School. I have been a member of the Jewish community since I was born. This will be my first year as an aide at the Am Yisrael School of Jewish Studies. After my Jewish education that I have received at the synagogue, I have decided to become an aide in the technology department because I own a ton of technology. I am so excited about becoming an aide in the Am Yisrael School of Jewish Studies.

I have worn many hats here at Am Yisrael: the Gan Teacher, first grade teacher, the activity director for the young children at Friday Ngiht Live, and the Interim Religious School Director. My job is to pass on my love and knowledge for Judaism, Hebrew and Israel. We do our learning through visits from the Rabbi, games, art projects, stories, songs, book discussions, and so much more. Our class is very lucky, we get to visit the library and have a book read to us by the librarian, Mr. Dick Nugent, and are told stories that teach us about the holidays, values and so much more. One other special part of the day is we have music: music ties us to all the generations who have come before us and helps us have ruach (spirit).

When I am not at Am Yisrael, I am one of the directors of the Early Childhood Program at the Bernard Weinger JCC in Northbrook. It will be my pleasure to help guide your children as they embark upon their Jewish Educational journey.

I look forward to beginning my fifth year on the Am Yisrael teaching staff as a Hebrew reading and writing tutor. I have lived in Chicago all my life and I have three sons. In addition to working at Am Yisrael, I have tutored at Beth Hillel for 18 years. I worked as a Teacher’s Assistant in Primary Special Education District 39 (Wilmette) for 22 years. I also taught primary remedial reading for 13 summers for District 39. I have spent the last three summers practicing Torah portions and Haftarah with Cantor Simon. My main goals this year are to help students who need a little extra work on their Hebrew reading and writing skills. I also hope to be able to assist Cantor Simon in preparing our students for their Haftarah portions, as needed. One additional part of my responsibilities will be helping younger siblings master the singing of the Ashrei so that they will be able to chant it at their older sibling’s b’nai mitzvah.

I am excited to start my first year as a madrich at Am Yisrael. My family has been with the congregation for several years, and I have attended religious school through my Confirmation last year. I have prior experience in child work, as I was a Counselor-in-Training at Greenwoods Camp for Boys this past summer. I am currently a junior at New Trier High School in Winnetka. In school, I enjoy studying science, history, and geography, as well as participating in a few service clubs. I am also a member of the New Trier boy’s tennis team in the spring. Judaism has always been a big factor in my life, and it will continue to be important to me forever. I have learned many valuable life lessons and skills through my Jewish education experience. I am looking forward to sharing what I have learned with the current students at Am Yisrael this year. This year will be a fantastic year at Am Yisrael, and I am glad to be a part of it!