blogs/masa

From our Education Director, Julia Gross Alexander:

Dear BHA Community,

Not quite three years ago, I was honored to be entrusted as the Education Director  at BHA. I was excited to build on the foundation Ashley Baker created, and the work that others had done before her. This past year has required a level of innovation that is at once frustrating (we would all rather be in person) and exciting (we have expanded our learning across the week, and developed wonderful independent learning opportunities for our students). I am excited to see where learning at BHA will be heading in the future!

That said, I will be stepping down from the role of Director of Education at BHA. 

Two years ago, Wendy and I finally became parents, and we formally adopted our oldest child this February. Last September, we added two more foster children to our home. (Zero to three kids in eighteen months!) We have been delighted at this fulfillment of our lifelong dream of being parents. For right now, I want to focus more of my energy on raising our children.

Even though my role is changing, this is my community and I plan to continue teaching and learning at BHA, and I am looking forward to supporting the new education director in whatever ways I can.

If you know any wise and creative educators who would be a good fit for BHA, please share this job listing with them!

With wishes for joyful learning,

Julia Gross Alexander

From Rabbi Brent: 

The Torah teaches חֲנֹ֣ךְ לַ֖נַּעַר עַל־פִּ֣י דַרְכּ֑וֹ - we are to teach each child according to their way. 

For the past three years, Julia has been teaching the children in our community, each according to their way. Julia is one of the warmest, open-hearted people I know, and I consider it a great blessing that she is in the life of the BHA community and of my family. I’m so grateful for everything she has done to build our education program and shepherd it through the challenges of the pandemic. 

While I am sad that Julia is stepping down as our education director, I’m thrilled at the reason why - the new children in her life are incredibly lucky to have Julia and Wendy as their mothers. Beyond that, I’m delighted that Julia has agreed to stay on as a teacher, in our program, so that the children in our community can continue to receive and benefit from her love. 

As we move more fully into spring, please stay tuned for more formal ways to thank and celebrate Julia; in the meantime, if you know of someone who might be interested in running our education program, please share this with them. 

With blessings,

Rabbi Brent