Melanie (aka Morah Malka) is beginning her sixth year as a teacher in the GJC Religious School, following a long and varied career as a Jewish educator. This year, in addition to teaching the Bet/Gimel (2nd and 3rd grade) combination class, she is also teaching many of her former 3rd graders in the Teen Tuesday program.
Having traveled from place to place for many years, she came back to Philadelphia a few years ago, and returned to the congregation that was her second home for all of her childhood and adolescence. She is a proud graduate of the GJC Religious School and a special intensive program at Gratz College, and served as a Torah reader, B’nai Mitzvah tutor, madricha, and leader of Junior Congregation services – way back in the 1960’s! She holds a BA in Psychology from Bryn Mawr College and an MA in Education from American University. She has served as a teacher, Education Director, Head of Jewish Studies, and Head of School at a variety of congregational schools and Jewish Day Schools throughout the United States. She served as Conference Chair and member of the Board of Directors of CAJE ( Coalitions for Alternatives/Advancement of Jewish Education), and was the author of Jewish educational materials for Torah Aura Productions. She is eager to share her expertise and her love of Jewish learning with a new generation of students and their families.