JOURNEYS

MASAOT

JDS ALUMNI SPRING 2013 NEWSLETTER

Dear Alumni and Friends,

At JDS, the measure of what we do here is often found many times multiplied in our alumni. As you will read in this newsletter, our graduates are a diverse and committed group, changing the world with their own unique talents and gifts. Research has shown that strong values and ethics are built in the early years of life. We hope that as you read about our alumni, you will see in their stories, glimpses of what is taught and practiced at JDS.

As I depart JDS, I literally have thousands of stories in my head from the more than 30 years that I have watched students engage in learning and become the fine young people they were meant to be. Some are humorous and some are inspiring; all are significant in making a difference. You, JDS alumni, are our legacy and the testament to how a fine Jewish day school can make an impact in the world. I so look forward to what you will be doing next. Keep us posted!

MARIA ERLITZ, HEAD OF SCHOOL

JDS EDITORS NOTE: JDS will say goodbye to Maria in June as

she leaves for new endeavors and more time with her family including her three children, JDS alumni Elisa Barr (’99), Jill Erlitz (’88),

and Corey Erlitz (‘87) and her grandchildren. Stay tuned to JDS for news regarding our

new Head of School.

Hello to all JDS alumni and families!I am thrilled to be back working with the Jewish Day School. I was a member of the class of 1992, attending JDS for seven formative years. For me, like many others, JDS fostered a sense of family and community that persisted long after we left the school. I moved back to Seattle in 2011 after completing my medical training and was honored to be asked to serve on the JDS Board of Trustees to help support alumni relations. We all remember the powerful sense of community JDS fostered during our school years. As alumni, our challenge is to continue to build a supportive alumni community. As you can see from the updates in this newsletter, JDS alumni do amazing things!

We will be hosting our first alumni event — a Shabbat Dinner — in April 2013. Location and date TBA. If you would like to join us for this Shabbat (or future events) please contact me at sarahkatetoner@gmail.com. Additionally if you would like to plan an alumni event yourself, please feel free to contact me and we can work together to make it happen!

Sincerely,

SARAH TONER (’92)

NINA GARKAVI (’02) graduated from NYHS and Sy Syms School of Business at Yeshiva University. She had been working in New York when in 2011, she was diagnosed with cancer and returned to Seattle for treatment. Today, she focuses on rehabilitation involving occupational and physical therapy while

also working to help others. “I have been involved in Make a Dream’s Walk for Wishes. I am currently working on a non-profit organization aimed at helping those directly affected by cancer treatment and in September, I organized a team of more than 60 participants and raised over $14,000 for brain tumor research benefiting Seattle Children’s Hospital in honor of myself and Ari Grashin z”l. I plan for that to be a yearly minimum until a cure is found!”

MAYA ZWANG (’08) lives in Vancouver where she attends UBC. “I am volunteering with Relay for Life and the Ronald McDonald House. I love Vancouver and all of the opportunities it has opened up for me!”

TALYA GILLMAN (’00) works for Repair the World, a national nonprofit organization that works to make service and social action a defining part of Jewish life, learning

and leadership. She joined Repair in 2010, after returning from Mumbai where she lived for a year and a half, working with a local organization as part of American Jewish World Service’s World Partners Fellowship. She now resides in Seattle where she volunteers with families recently resettled to the United States.

ZOE PEARL (’07) is a sophomore at Northwestern University pursuing a double major in English and Psychology and a minor in Spanish. “One of my favorite organizations that I volunteer with is Peer Health Exchange where I teach health education in Chicago area public high schools that lack health curriculums. I also help plan fundraisers for Camp Kesem, a student-run summer camp for children whose parents have or have had cancer.”

JDS: WHERE STUDY

LEADS TO ACTION

JDS ALUMNI SPRING 2013 NEWSLETTER

Alumni UpdatesBEN BERGMAN (’96) (left) is KPCC’s Orange County Reporter based in Santa Ana and he narrated our 2013 Auction video.

JESSICA BRUMER (’10) is an 11th grader at Interlake High School and is active in her synagogue youth group board, B’nai Torah Youth, as the NFTY-NW Liaison. She’s looking forward to being a CIT this summer at URJ Camp Kalsman.

MEGAN BRUMER (’08) is attending the University of Washington this year and is an active participant at the UW Hillel. She’s currently a music specialist at Temple DeHirsch Sinai and songleads for Shabbat Services at Hillel and TDHS. She is also looking forward to being a 2nd year counselor and music specialist at URJ Camp Kalsman this summer.

RACHEL COLLINS (’96) lives in Seattle and works for a community health clinic as a nurse practitioner.

DANIEL DROKER (’92) lives in Seattle with his two sons, ages 3 and 5, and his wife Christine. He is the security systems engineer at Argens, Inc.

ERIC FULTON (’03) attends the University of San Francisco in Santa Clara, CA.

RICK FULTON (’00) graduated from Stanford with a BA and MA in Computer Science and is co-founder and CTO of Bloodhound — a mobile solution for events. Rick is also a competitive fencer.

BEN GOWN (’96) spent 9 months in Brazil, dividing time between Rio and Porto Alegre, on a Fulbright Scholarship where he worked on a project called The Brazilian Accordion and Techniques in Music Education. “I was studying with some great accordionist, arrangers, educators and even a puppeteer or two. I made some arrangements of Jewish music for wind ensembles that I am currently recording and hope to release soon!” He is currently a Hebrew teacher in Seattle and is involved with www.thesababas.com and www.sassonband.com.

JACOB GOWN (’92) is currently living in Los Angeles where he works in student affairs at American Jewish University and runs a martial arts after school program for children. He spends his time with his beautiful wife Debbie and dog, Samba.

LILA KITAEFF (’93) works at KUOW as program producer of the youth journalism program RadioActive.

ERIN FIELDS LEVENSON (’92) (left) lives in San Diego with her husband Adam and daughter Emma. She spends her days causing mischief with her 3 year old.

BENJAMIN LEVY (’96) teaches at Denver Jewish Day School and is involved at Denver’s Minyan Na’aleh. He was quoted in a recent PEJE blog talking about day schools: “In my family, when my parents had Judaic questions, they wouldn’t ask

the rabbi, they’d ask their 11 year old son. Day school graduates gain deep Jewish knowledge to the point that as adults, they like to be the ones making the decisions, not being told what they should believe.”

GREG LEYSER (’92) is currently working in the Strategic Relationship Management group of Deloitte, where he serves as an account manager for several of the firm’s largest accounts. He lives in Chicago with his girlfriend Beth.

LAUREN LEYSER (’96) graduated from the University of Michigan and received her Masters of Science in Child Life and Family Centered Care at Wheelock College in Boston. She became a Certified Child Life Specialist and is currently working at Seattle Children’s Hospital in Palliative Care.

BESS LOVEJOY (’93) has had articles published by the New York Times and has just released her first book Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses published by Simon & Shuster.

ALAYNA MADUELL (‘11) (right) is a junior at Newport High School and a student teacher in the 3rd grade gifted classroom at Spiritridge Elementary School.

JOSH MADUELL (‘07) (right) is a sophomore acting major at Willamette University and will be studying in London this coming Fall.

ARIELA MIGDAL (’87) is a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Women’s Right’s Project and was quoted in Forbes, US News & World Report, and other major media outlets recently on the lift of the combat exclusion rule for women.

Our Newest AlumniThe JDS Class of ’13 (pictured left) leaves for Israel next month and returns in early June to prepare for graduation. You’re invited to join us for their graduation ceremony on Tuesday, June 18th in the Greenstein Athletic Center.

Connect and stay in touch with us via

social networks. Email your alumni updates and images to alumni@jds.org | www.jds.org/alumni

RACHELLE MOSHOLDER (’04) graduated from Lake Erie College in May of 2012 and is working in the equine industry. “I was the maid of honor in my best friend (JDS Alum) Gabriela Bloom’s wedding and am still good friends with other classmates. I attribute my strong love for Israel, my desire to give back to the community, and my lifestyle revolving around Judaism

to my years at JDS. Looking back, I am so happy I had a strong Jewish education not only for religious reasons, but for the culture and morals that it instills.”

DANIEL NOVICK (’97) won a 2012 Lone Star Emmy Award for his coverage of a devastating April 2012 tornado that hit the small town of Forney, Texas, east of Dallas. He currently reports for KDAF-TV in Dallas.

HARRISON REINES (’11) became an Eagle Scout last June and recently relocated to San Diego where he attends La Jolla Country Day School.

HANNAH ROBIN (’09) will begin a pre-dental university in the fall. She and her brother Zach are still working with their nonprofit, the 2thFairy, to provide dental products to those in need. They have supplied products to an orphanage in Peru and a South Dakota Indian reservation among others and were featured in King 5 news segment in December.

ZACH ROBIN (’12) is a straight A student and member of the track team at Eastside Prep where he is redesigning the school’s website with a faculty member.

JOE ROME (’91) moved his law practice from Maui to Kirkland last year. He currently lives in Snoqualmie Ridge with his wife and 8 and 4 year old daughters.

SARAH WAYNE RUTLEDGE (’98) lives in Boulder, CO with her husband Derek and is the Assistant Admissions Director for the Art Institute of Colorado. The couple recently completed work with the WWOOF program (World Wide Opportunities of Organic Farming) in Japan, Thailand and New Zealand. She is pictured (right) with a seal in Coffs Harbor, Australia.

JESSE SALOMON (’90) was elected to the Shoreline City Council and practices public interest law. He married Sarah Goldenkranz in September.

Miriam Stiefel (‘04) (right) is living and working in the Czech Republic as a Fulbright Fellow where she is teaching English at the Secondary School of Electrical Engineering in Plzen. “By the end of the year, I will have taught more than 1,000 students.”

JACOB VALK (’05) is attending Occidental College in Los Angeles and took the MCAT last month as he prepares for medical school.

ELISE WAYNE (’02) lives in Seattle where she works as a junior visual designer for iLink Systems. She is pictured (left) in Bali, Indonesia.

DANNIELLE TONER WEIL (’95) lives in San Francisco and works at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital as a nurse practitioner in pediatric cardiology. She is currently enjoying spending time with her daughter, Adena, who was born this past December, her husband Michael and her dog Latka.

ILANA GLOSSER WODLINGER (’96) went to college at Wesleyan university and then received her Masters in Teaching at Brandeis as part of the DeLeT Fellowship, a program specializing in training Jewish day school teachers and leaders. After teaching in Boston for several years, she moved back to Seattle and returned to JDS as a teacher. Now she stays home with her 2 year old son, Isaac, and loves spending time with him and her husband, Jeff.

YOAV ZELIKOVIC (‘92) moved to Israel in 1996 and completed his 3 years of army service. He attended law school at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and completed his MBA from Bar Ilan University. For the past 5 years Yoav has worked as a corporate lawyer in Tel Aviv and is currently pursuing a career in capital market portfolio management.

MAKING AN

IMPACT AT JDS

JANE RUTSTEIN SHAY (’96) returned to teaching in the JDS Middle School after welcoming her second son, Jonah.

NAOMI FINE (’04) assisted in the JDS preschool and 2nd grade using her Hebrew to help ensure a smooth transition for new Israeli students.

DAVEY FRIEDMAN (’03) taught Hebrew at JDS earlier this year.

SARAH TONER (’92) is serving on the JDS Board of Trustees and is leading alumni outreach efforts.

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JOURNEYS

MASAOT

JDS ALUMNI SPRING 2013 NEWSLETTER

www.jds.org/alumnialumni@jds.org

EDITOR: KAREN COVAL

MISSION STATEMENT The Mission of the Jewish Day School is to provide an exceptional education that empowers Jewish children to be confident, wise and compassionate

upstanders who are committed to life-long learning and community stewardship.

SUPPORTING JDSThank you to the alumni who continue to support JDS through giving to the JDS Annual Fund, placing tributes and listing JDS as a recipient of corporate matching dollars. We gratefully acknowledge our 2012 Alumni Donors: Mimi Rosen (’92), Sarah Toner (’92), Davey Friedman (’03), Jane Rutstein Shay (’96) and Sarah Wayne Rutledge (’98).

LOOKING BACKWe are building a JDS image archive in Flickr. Check out our photostream which includes images dating back to the earliest days at JDS.

ALUMNI REUNIONS & EVENTS

Want to be a representative for your class? Interested in planning reunions or events? Email alumni@jds.org today.

BREAKING ATHLETICS RECORDS Our Jaguar athletics program continues to grow with competitive Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer, Ultimate, Golf, Tennis and Track. Athletic Director Jim Wiesen, who has documented running times since 2007, reports that alumni are still among record-holders for our 1 mile run.

Top 5 times in 1 mile run:BOYS: TIMENoah Cape (’15) 5.23

Robbie Ellenhorn (’08) 5.47

Jonah Anderson (’10) 5.58

Asaph Brumer (’14) 6.12

Gabe Rosenbloom (’14) 6.14

GIRLS: TIMEJamie Pearl (’12) 6.46

Ellie Engel (’09) 6.53

Tahlia Edgar-Chalker (’13) & Hannah Wahl (’14) 6.58

Ana Light (’14) 6.59

JDS is a Level 2 King County Green School — please recycle.

Justin, Jessica and Yael

THANK YOU ALUMNI VOLUNTEERS!JDS wants to thank alumni who have volunteered at school events. If you would like to volunteer, please contact us today. You can email alumni@jds.org.

Jessica Schwartz (’09), Justin Coskey (’11), Yael Egnal (’09) and Josh Niehaus (’97) joined JDS as counselors for the 3rd Annual 6th Grade Pacific Northwest Shabbaton in February.

Chloe Etsekson (‘01), Nicki Etsekson (‘06), Megan Brumer (‘08) and Jessica Brumer (’10) helped with the 2012 JDS Annual Meeting.

Mariel Dunietz (’07) and David Schwartz (’09) helped to reimage over 200 new computers for the entire JDS faculty and staff last summer.