classroom in a new way

COMING FULL CIRCLE

JDS alumni who rejoin the school as teachers experience the classroom in a new way

Ari Kittrie Reporter

When alumnus English teacher Dr. Dory Fox (‘09) told her friends from CESJDS that she was returning as an English teacher, they asked two questions: whether Dean of Students Roslyn Landy was still there, and if it meant that she could become friends with math department chair Reuben Silberman.

Since her time at JDS as a student in 2009, the school has changed significantly. The change has been both physical and social in how JDS works and how it has adapted to the modern day.

Fox recently received a PhD from the University of Michigan with specialties in Jewish Literature and Yiddish, and started teaching English at JDS at the beginning of this school year. Fox’s love for teaching high school students stems from her time at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she spent four summers teaching students Yiddish. When a teaching job opened up at her alma mater, she applied.

“I never thought that this would happen, because when you’re a student, you can’t imagine it won’t be just you and your friends there as the students,” Fox said.

When Fox returned to JDS, she noticed how much the school had changed. For example, JDS now holds weekly Kabbalat Shabbat and has stopped giving students “Lion Planners.” When Fox was a student, these planners were used for doodling in. As a teacher, Fox’s perspective has drastically changed on how much hard work teachers put in to help students and cater to their needs. Fox used to think that teachers didn’t necessarily care or notice what was going on. “Once I started teaching, I realized I was so nervous about whether my students were going to do well,” she said.

Like Fox, sixth grade humanities teacher Tamar Gasko (‘12) never imagined she’d be back at JDS.

“It never really crossed my mind after I left JDS because I didn’t think I wanted to be a teacher,” Gasko said.

She graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in theater, but knew she didn’t want to be a professional actor, so she started to look for other jobs.

“After a lot of thinking and exploring, I realized that all the different things I had enjoyed over the course of my life involved aspects of teaching,” Gasko said.

One of the many things she likes about teaching at a Jewish school is having the Jewish holidays off, unlike at a public school. She was excited to teach at her alma mater because she knew she would be welcomed there. Gasko also enjoys the close community at JDS. “There’s a culture of students and teachers being very friendly with each other,” Gasko said. Some of Gasko’s current colleagues are the same ones that taught her almost a decade ago. For example, Assistant Dean and math teacher Tori Ball was her teacher for pre-calculus. “It was weird at first learning to call them by their first names, but now I feel very comfortable and like an equal,”Gasko said. Like Fox, Gasko’s perspective on teachers also changed regarding how much work teachers put in. She noticed that as a teacher, a lot of care goes into helping students and each of their specific needs.

“I had no idea as a student how much work teachers do behind the scenes to create a lesson plan and also support those students,” Gasko said. “We are constantly asking each other about details about you guys in order to better support you or constantly emailing and making calls.”

Both Gasko and Fox found that even though JDS changed physically, its warm environment stayed the same from when they were a student to when they were a teacher.

Dean of Students Roslyn Landy has seen a number of graduates

“I realized that all the different things I had enjoyed over the course of my life involved aspects of teaching.”

-Humanities teacher Tamar Gasko (‘12)

transition into teachers. One of the funniest things from her perspective is how hard it is for them to get used to addressing her as “Roz.”

“They forever called me Mrs. Landy because that is what they were used to when they were here,” Landy said. It’s hard to predict which students will come back to teach at JDS. There are some who express a desire to teach while they are at JDS, and others, are those Landy refers to as “late bloomers.” There is nothing Landy loves more than seeing alumni come back to JDS because she believes “teaching is the greatest profession there is.”

Alumni come back to JDS to teach for different reasons, but there does seem to be one unifying theme: JDS is an educational community where the love of learning is a shared value. Teachers who are also alumni are grateful for the collective attitude towards the value of Lomed MiKol Adam, learn from everyone, and want to transmit that same love of learning to the next generation of students. “I’m really happy to be back at JDS and to be the kind of teacher that those teachers were to me,” Gasko said. “It feels really rewarding to sort of come full circle and be the kind of adult that I loved being around as a kid.”

Making a splash Photo used with permission of Coby Malkus New swim coach combines passion for sport and alma mater

Ella Waldman Features Editor Although CESJDS didn’t have a swim team when Lower School P.E. teacher and alumna Gabriella Pilarski (‘16) attended high school, her love for the sport came full circle when she accepted the opportunity to coach the varsity swim team this season.

After graduating from JDS and studying kinesiology at the University of Maryland, Pilarski accepted a physical education teaching position in the middle of the pandemic. Originally, she planned on following a physical therapy career path. However, after a change in education requirements for that field, she wanted to find a job before committing to going back to school to earn her master’s degree.

“I was looking for jobs related to my [bachelor’s] degree and I saw that JDS was hiring,” Pilarski said. “Thankfully, I only had to teach P.E. via zoom for a couple of weeks before they brought me in, in-person. And I’m very thankful for that because that was not very pleasant, in my opinion, for the kids or the teachers.”

A year later, before Pilarski entered her second year of teaching at JDS, athletic director Becky Silberman offered Pilarski an assistant coaching position for the cross country team. Pilarski instead asked if there were any available volleyball opportunities and subsequently accepted the position of middle school girls volleyball coach. Then, about a month before the winter sports season began, Silberman offered her the swim coach position.

Before college, Pilarski played volleyball and swam competitively. In fact, she swam on a team with Olympic swimmer Phoebe Bacon and continues to play on a recreational volleyball team today. As someone who has been involved in both of these sports for a while, she hopes to create an environment where her athletes can flourish and enjoy the sport as much as she does. “Volleyball was my first season coaching anything and I really really enjoyed it. I thought it was so fun to work with [kids older] than I do during the day, very refreshing,” Pilarski said. “In P.E., it’s required, and all the kids at the Lower School love it. But it’s so different [from] working with one specific sport, with kids who want to learn that one sport.”

After coming off of a successful volleyball season where she led her team to the playoff semifinals, Pilarski recognizes that coaching swimming will require a different technique. Because athletes are in the water and not beside her, it is more difficult for Pilarski to offer quick corrections to her swimmers. “I can’t just be like, kick harder, or I can be, but that’s not as valuable to the athletes,” Pilarski said. “I’ve never done this before, [so I’m trying to learn] what I can offer that aren’t just good workouts. What kind of corrections can I offer about your technique and mental attitude?”

In addition to enhancing her coaching style, Pilarski hopes to help swimmers meet their individual goals and swim their personal bests. For several JDS swimmers, this means training for the METROS, a distinguished regional swim competition that Pilarski hopes to help athletes compete in.

Aside from individual objectives, Pilarski’s other goal is to emphasize team support and “My favorite part [of swimming] is how it is simultaneously an individual and team sport. You can work hard by yourself to achieve individual goals while being a part of a supportive team environment.”

- Varsity

Swim Coach Gabriella Pilarski

spirit. Growing up, her favorite swim memory was cheering so loudly for her friends that they were able to hear her while they were underwater. Pilarski hopes to bring this same energy, enthusiasm and support to the JDS team. “My favorite part [of swimming] is how it is simultaneously an individual and team sport. You can work hard by yourself to achieve individual goals while being a part of a supportive team environment,” Pilarski said.

Although the logistics of the swim season are not yet finalized, the team still practices twice a week at the Bender JCC of Greater Washington pool. As of now, three high school meets in the Washington Metropolitan Prep School Swim Dive League are on the schedule, and two more may be added. Additionally, should the swim team join the PVAC League, some middle schoolers may also be allowed to compete with the varsity team.

After the fall season concluded, Pilarski had a chance to reflect on her first coaching experience and how she hopes to bring what she learned into the upcoming winter season.

“I learned...how much it really is about the athletes and their experience. I was frustrated when we would lose, thinking that there was something … I could have done differently that would have allowed the team to win,” Pilarksi said. “But what it comes down to is, are the athletes feeling like they can be trying their hardest? Are they having fun? And are they learning something? And trying to maximize not just winning, but individual and personal growth.”