JEWISH OUTSIDE
Bringing Nature-Based Jewish Learning to Your School
Growing up in a large urban metropolis with limited Jewish learning: I grew up in Mexico City with limited formal Jewish learning but a rich exposure to nature, the arts, music, and humanistic values. I moved to San Diego, California when I was twelve, and struggled to find meaningful Jewish learning until my college years.
My passion for living on the Earth as a Jew took root as I found more opportunities for Jewish learning and expression, and has been nurtured through years of personal study and work in diverse Jewish communities. After completing my B.A.in Education from Brown University, I spent a year in Israel learning Torah and other traditional texts, including through the Eco-Activist Beit Midrash in Jerusalem and Midreshet Bat Ayin, where I focused on texts relevant to ecology and earth-based Judaism.
I decided to become a Jewish experiential educator that year and formally train at the Teva Learning Center in Falls Village, Connecticut. I found my folks and my professional field for the next ten years!
After working for the Teva Learning Center as a Jewish environmental educator, I settled in the Bay Area in 2009 and have taken on diverse educational projects that all include nature-based Jewish learning, including as the Garden Coordinator at Camp Tawonga, Chochmat HaLev’s religious school, and teacher/afternoon enrichment specialist at Gan Shalom Preschool in Berkeley. I am the program founder of “B’Hootz,” Wilderness Torah’s year-round children’s program, and served as Education Director for Edah, an innovative out-of-school, Jewish experiential learning program that includes an after-school program, camps, and family learning in Berkeley. I also completed the two-year Kevah teaching fellowship, as well as the Torah Trek Guides program for wilderness Jewish spirituality. In 2013, I was contracted by Jewish Learning Works as the lead writer for a 300-age, 32-lesson family learning curriculum called Shalom Explorers, now used widely in the bay area among Jewish family learning groups.
Until recently, I served as Director of Education at Urban Adamah, a Jewish community farm and educational center in Berkeley, California. My work there focused on expanding the opportunities youth and families have on the farm for experiential Jewish education in a nature-based and community-based context. Throughout my seven years of leadership there, Camp Urban Adamah expanded from six to ten weeks, enrollment doubled, and we created more opportunities for children ages 3-5, including Sprouts Camp in Summer and Winter, a monthly family program, and tot shabbat celebration. Teachers from local schools visit our high-quality programs to learn from our pedagogical approaches and program culture.
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I am currently completing a Masters in Educational Leadership at Mills College, and am focusing my studies on Early Childhood Education. I am also a JECELI fellow.
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I've been offering teacher training and professional development opportunities primarily for Jewish preschools since 2012, and have delivered over 20 teacher training sessions in the Bay with teachers from the following schools: Gan Ilan, Lafayette; Temple Isaiah, Oakland; Beth El, Berkeley, Netivot Shalom, Berkeley; JCC Tiburon; JCC Berkeley; JCC San Francisco; Gan Mah Tov, Oakland; Gan Israel, San Rafael; South Peninsula Hebrew Day School; Peninsula Temple Sholom Preschool, Burlingame; Beth Sholom Family Preschool, SF; and Ganon ECE Center, San Mateo.
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I love working with preschool teachers because they understand the power of every moment as a learning moment, and the importance of the environment as a teacher (whether that is the indoors or outdoors classroom). Preschool teachers also enjoy the freedom of creative curriculum, pedagogical experimentation, and holistic, multi-modal learning.
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Conferences and Awards
2014 Children Learning with Nature Conference, Conference Speaker
2015 Helen Diller Family Award for Excellence in Jewish Education
2015 Jewish Early Childhood Education Conference, Conference Speaker
2016 Children Learning with Nature Conference, Workshop Leader
2016 Learning from the Inside Out: A Conference for Early Childhood Jewish Educators, Workshop Leader Professional
2014-2017 Jewish Outside Training, Year-round training leader (year-round multi-session training for Jewish preschool (sponsored by Jewish Federation as part of the Jewish Resource Specialist program)teachers)
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Mexico City
Brown University, Rhode Island
Jerusalem and Arava Desert, Israel
Teva Learning Center, Connecticut
Bay Area, California
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