Pre-School and Kindergarten | Faculty

Sara

Upstairs Blue Room & Afternoon Explorers

I embrace children when they enter the room telling them 'I've been waiting for you!' I have a lap for tearful moments and a warm hug to make each child feel safe. I listen as a child's daily or weekly events unfold in their lives and give support. I encourage accomplishments and create a sense of curiosity and discovery of oneself and the surrounding environment.

I love to sing and tell stories. Humor and jokes are fun to share and connect with other children. I wipe faces, hand out tissues, and help Akiba feel like a second home for the children. I send every child home with a warm smile, excitement, and anticipation for the next day’s activities.

I love my work and the joy of creating a safe and secure place where a child can explore and develop skills they will need as they continue to grow and reach their potential. I nurture their development with loads of patience and enthusiasm. I enjoy taking the children's ideas or questions and creating from them themes or projects that the whole classroom can learn from. I try to set up a classroom as a community setting and help children see that just like we live in a community we also have a sense of community in the classroom with our peers.

In addition to my formal education, I have creativity bursting from my seams. I enjoy creating new projects, writing new songs for the Pre-School, and decorating for parties and events. I attend workshops around the country to expand my personal growth as a teacher and to learn new ideas to use in the classroom. I am attending Thomas Edison College for Early Childhood Education.

Before Akiba-Shechter, I taught in Deal, New Jersey in Hillel Yeshiva Day School for three years in the Pre-School as a Pre-Kindergarten teacher. I studied at Bnot Rachel and Neve Yershulaim in Jerusalem, Israel for 2 years. I've also worked in a pediatrician's office as a medical technician and earned EMT certification. I was born in Belleview, Illinois, and came to Akiba in 2001.

I live on the north side with my husband and two young children. I am very active in the Jewish community: I help with shul dinners, gemachs, and simchas in my community, and open my house for shabbos to guests from afar. I look forward to spending holidays with my large extended family and friends.


Modified: Last Modified:August 25, 2007. 16:38:50 pm