The Season, Connecting Alumni and Community, Fall 2018

This Fall, the headlines and our social media feeds are full of heavy topics – fear, hatred, hope, tragedy. A teaching season that has asked more of us as parents, grandparents and caregivers than perhaps we thought we could manage. It seems tougher than ever at times.

Yet, one of the biggest emotional gifts of parenting is the empathy for the many difficult choices our own parents made with us. Let’s be honest, raising children was never easy. Oy vey! Filled with thousands of choices, one just hopes to make as many ‘right’ choices as possible. I know one thing is for sure. Choosing Yavneh was one the best decisions my husband Kirk and I have made as parents. Read more

Rose Heide and Gary Sweet z”l are devoted grandparents of a Yavneh Day School student. Since their granddaughter Keira started 8 years ago in Kindergarten, they have volunteered hours, given to the Annual Campaign and have had a genuine love of Yavneh Day School.

Rose found her niche working in the library each Tuesday. Driving down from San Francisco, Rose spends time checking in and out books, finding the best books for teachers and working with young readers to polish their new found love of reading. Rose explains her motivation to start volunteering each week at Yavneh was to be closer to her granddaughter, to meet her friends and teachers, and give back to the community. Although Rose does not live across the country, or world, like many of Yavneh’s grandparents; living in San Francisco often makes it hard to find time to spend in Keira’s busy life. The weekly visit helps bond her relationship with her granddaughter.

Keira Sweet, Rose’s granddaughter, recently shared, “I love when Omi comes to spend time at Yavneh. It’s fun to see her and have her meet my friends. I especially like when I get a chance to see her in the hallway and give her a hug.” Shanin Fox, Yavneh Day School’s librarian, shared about Rose: “I love my job, and having Rose around helps makes it even more fun. She is a project master, but more importantly she brings laughter to the library.” It is special and appreciated when a volunteer spends time meeting our students and gets to know them. Yavneh students, especially Keira, look forward each week to seeing Rose and spending time with her in the library.

With sadness, Gary passed away this last summer. Rose shared, “Gary especially enjoyed Generations Day and he looked forward to spending the day in Keira’s classrooms and hearing about what she spent the day learning.” Along with Rose’s many volunteer hours, Rose and Gary believed donating to Yavneh gave them tremendous pleasure knowing they could help the students of Yavneh just a little bit more. We are grateful for all Rose and Gary do to help Yavneh Day School.

Alumnus Ben Talei attended Yavneh from 1985-1990.

After his time at Yavneh, Ben Talei went on to UCLA where he earned his undergraduate degree in physiological sciences. Ben continued his studies at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, where he received his medical degree. Ben now operates a successful practice in Beverly Hills with a focus on facial reconstruction and congenital anomalies. Throughout his career Ben has made a commitment serving the community donating his time as well as a portion of surgical proceeds to charitable causes.

Ben said he made lifelong friends at Yavneh that he couldn’t have found anywhere else and attributes some of his success to his time at Yavneh—noting in particular, “the culture of family at Yavneh.”

“Our teachers there truly loved us,” he said. “The culture was not one of giving kids meaningless tasks and testing. Instead we were nurtured.” As an adult, Ben gives back to the community in a variety of ways and highlights experiences during his time at Yavneh certainly contributed to his desire to help others. “At Yavneh we were just surrounded by nice people everywhere,” he said. “Growing up like that you know it’s your duty to help others less fortunate.”

Not only is Ben good with his hands, but he has music in his heart. Ben excelled as a piano teacher and composer. He would teach children in underserved communities free of charge. At the same time, he served as a youth mentor with COPE (Community Outreach for Prevention and Education) in Venice and East Los Angeles and with the Big Brothers of UCLA.

An artisan in many ways, Ben said he has always enjoyed endeavors that involve working with his hands. He recalls a fun story his dad would always bring up between himself and Morah Shula: “We used to do so many learning activities and during one I guess I had made a milk carton into a house with the garage on the second floor using an elevator,” Ben said. “To this day my dad likes to bring that up and compare me to the Japanese who started using car elevators around that time.”

A true creative since childhood, he has been involved in upholstering, sewing of Victorian lampshades, carpentry and stone sculpting. He is also an avid cook with an ever-growing list of recipes (https://www.facebook.com/BenTaleisKitchen/ #BenTaleisKitchen).

Alumna Noa Berkenwald '18 is a freshman in High School this year and we are honored to share that she has dedicated many of her High School volunteer hours at Yavneh Day School where she helps in the classrooms of her former buddy class and in the art room. Take a look at this video to hear from Noa about why she volunteers her time at Yavneh.

Click here to submit your alumni spotlight

Alumna Eden Rousso '10, graduated from Loyola Marymount University with two degrees in Screenwriting and Theatre (Summa Cum Laude) in May 2018. She also was named the best screenwriter of her graduating class.

Click here to submit your alumni simcha