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Meet Our Teachers
Heidi Kahn – Director
Heidi Kahn is a nationally known, award-winning teacher who has over 25 years of experience in the field of Jewish Early Childhood Education. After graduating from Barkly House Teachers College in South Africa, Heidi immigrated to the United States where she continued her studies in the field of Early Childhood Education. Heidi has been an active member of University Synagogue for over 15 years.
Written up in the Los Angeles Times as someone who “Makes Teaching a Joy”, Heidi has won the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (JRF) Master Teacher award and has also received the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.
Heidi is known for her creativity and integrates it into every aspect of our Pre-School. She has assembled a warm and caring teaching staff and has successfully grown University Synagogue Pre-School to 100+ happy students.
You are sure to meet Heidi’s family either at the synagogue or at the Pre-School – her husband, Lawrence, and daughters Marlee and Jordana are frequent visitors.
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Dilani Wijaweera – Pre-Kindergarten Teacher (5 days)
Dilani originally came from the beautiful island of Sri Lanka. She is thrilled and honored to be teaching your precious children at our Pre-School this year. She is very loving, warm hearted and creative.
She completed her Early Childhood Education training at the Open University of Sri Lanka. This is her 9th year of teaching and it has been a joyful experience. Dilani has been successful in blending her Montessori and developmental approach to education and most recently taught in a very academic setting. Dilani also teaches an art enrichment program called “Meet the Artists.”
Dilani is a mother of a wonderful son, Avin, and they both enjoy traveling and sight-seeing. Dilani is an excellent cook and loves making Sri Lankan curries. She lives in Irvine and is excited to be so close to the Pre-School.
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Jahanna Semelroth – Pre-Kindergarten Teacher (5 days)
Jahanna Semelroth describes working with young children as a joyous adventure. She strives to understand each child’s natural desire to learn and grow while preparing them for the social, academic and physical expectations that they will encounter in the coming years. She uses thoughtful observation of the children to understand how best to support development within a context of fun, warmth and nurturance.
She has been studying and working in Early Childhood Education since 1993. Within the coming year she plans to finish her thesis culminating in a Masters in Human Development at Pacific Oaks College.
Her sources of inspiration for teaching include her two sons, Aiden and Levi, who give her lessons in patience and humor every day. Jahanna has been fortunate to travel and spend time with her husband and sons in Jerusalem, where she delved into the rich Israeli culture of music, art and the incredible food. She looks forward to sharing in the joy of learning and play with all the children and families at University Synagogue Pre-School.
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Sheila Dreyfuss – Young Pre-Kindergarten Teacher (5 days)
Sheila has been teaching at University Synagogue Pre-School since 2007. Her love of children and vivacious personality make her a treasure. Sheila is passionate about University Synagogue and has been a member for many years.
Sheila attended Cal State Northridge and earned a B.A. in Communicative Disorders – Speech Therapy. She specialized in working with children and has assisted in the Irvine Unified School District. She has continued her education, most recently completing a class in Curriculum at IVC.
Sheila loves singing which is no surprise since her father was a cantor. She also enjoys crossword puzzles and Sudoku. Sheila lives in Irvine with her husband, Larry and they have three children – Michael, Sean and Caitlyn. Both Michael and Caitlyn share a talent for singing and music. Sean proudly serves in the United States Navy as a mine-man.
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Sharon Kessler – Pre-Kindergarten Teacher (5 days)
Sharon’s very first job working with pre-schoolers was as a Torah Tots teacher at University Synagogue 17 years ago. She loves working with young children, and is looking forward to a fun and exhilarating year working with her Pre-Kindergarten class. She especially looks forward to working with the children in the garden to teach them respect for nature and the wonders of science.
Her family recently relocated back to California after living in Maryland for the last 12 years. They are excited to live so close to the beach and enjoy the beautiful weather. Sharon and her husband Steve’s younger son, Ben, will be a sophomore at the University of Oregon, and their older son, Daniel is at the University of Maryland.
Sharon enjoys cooking, taking long walks on the beach, bicycling with her husband, visiting craft shows and festivals, and traveling.
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Claudia Carter – Pre-Kindergarten Teacher (5 days)
Claudia has been teaching at University Synagogue Pre-School since 2008. She teaches Pre-Kindergarten along with Sharon Kessler. Claudia will also be working with Margay as the afternoon Stay & Play teacher.
Claudia is very insightful and sensitive to the needs of each child. She strives to make each of the children successful, happy, and confident. She adores children and is passionate about teaching. She is pursuing research based studies on the Second Language Acquisition Theory.
Claudia has a very warm and positive manner and is a wonderful addition to the pre-school. Her hobbies include painting, drawing, swimming, reading, gardening and hiking. Claudia lives in Irvine and is very close to her family who live in the Midwest and she looks forward to their visits.
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Gayle Jacobson – 3 Year Old Teacher (5 days)
Gayle is an experienced and passionate early childhood educator. She received a BA in Early Childhood Education at Southern Illinois University and taught for many years in Jewish pre-schools in the Chicago area before moving to California. After raising her two daughters Jenna and Mara, she began her teaching career again at Beth Hillel synagogue in Valley Village, California. While teaching there she was selected to be part of the mentoring teaching program through the Los Angeles Junior College system.
Her love of children and photography has proven to be a great combination. It is a great tool to record their growth throughout the year for them and their parents.
She loves to introduce children to literature and creative language activities. She has an extensive collection of literature for the young child as well as flannel board stories and a vast music collection. She is excited to meet all of the students and their families and share her love of teaching with them.
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Sue Kurland – 2 Year Old Teacher (2,3, & 5 days)
Sue recently received a Master Teacher Award from University Synagogue Pre-School. She has been teaching for more years than she cares to admit! Sue is a graduate of California State University, Northridge. She loves being with children of all ages, but her passion is with two and three year olds! She is strongly committed to nurturing the whole child in a developmentally appropriate setting. She believes that by setting up the environment to be challenging yet success oriented, children expand their world physically, socially, emotionally and cognitively. Sue feels that the greatest gift we can give young children is the gift of growth and self esteem.
Sue and her husband. Don, have three lovely children – Jeremy, Cayla, and Rebecca. As a family they enjoy “game night”, musical theater, visiting friends and just spending time together. Sue enjoys reading, cooking and distance walking!
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Tiffany Wexler – 2 Year Old Teacher (3 days)
Tiffany has a warm, gentle, laid back manner. She strives to create an environment where children feel safe and comfortable to express themselves and learn to make a positive contribution to the world.
She is a Jewish educator, affiliated with the Bureau of Jewish Education, and has been teaching since 1997. Her Early Childhood certification is from UCLA. Her professional growth has been directed at preparing children to gain meaningful skills that will help them throughout their lives.
She enjoys hiking, cooking, and reading, and cooks using only natural and organic ingredients. For exercise, she likes taking long walks and hikes on Southern California trails.
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Margay Andrews – Lead Afternoon Teacher
Margay graduated from San Diego State University with a BS in Child Development and a teaching credential and has taught Pre-School since 1999 She loves children and understands the value of play! She looks forward to creating a fun learning environment for your children.
Margay lives in Irvine with her husband, Richard and has two children – Holly and Scott – and two wonderful grandchildren. She has a passion for cooking and entertaining. Her favorite activities are walking on the beach, reading a good book and being with her family. She can usually be found in the children’s section of the library scouring for the perfect book for her students!
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Natalia Morozov – 3 Year Old Assistant Teacher
Natalia was born in the Ukraine and lived in Israel for 8 years before moving to the United States. She received a teacher’s certificate in Israel and attended Early Childhood classes at IVC. She is married to Vitaly and has 2 boys, who keep her very busy.
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Andrea Provenzano – 2 Year Old Assistant Teacher
Andrea is currently finishing her BA in Child and Adolescent Development with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education at Cal State Fullerton. She is thrilled to be working with children and could not be more excited about the upcoming year. She is nurturing and caring and strongly believes in a developmental approach to teaching.
Her hobbies include baking, playing tennis and painting.
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Rebecca Robinson – 2 Year Old Assistant Teacher
Rebecca has worked with children for the past 11 years including those with special needs. She is excited to be teaching at the University Synagogue Pre-School and working with little ones.
When Rebecca isn’t working with children you can usually find her volunteering with dog rescue groups. She currently resides in Lake Forest with her rescued dog, April.
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