Meet Our Cohort

 Anita Zucker Jewish Early Childhood Scholars

Stern College for Women, is excited to welcome its first cohort of Anita Zucker Jewish Early Childhood Educators to campus this Fall 2023. The Anita Zucker Scholarship for Jewish Early Childhood Education is the brainchild of noted early childhood philanthropist and advocate, Anita Zucker. Zucker, a former classroom teacher herself and CEO of The InterTech Group Inc., a North Charleston-based global manufacturing conglomerate, recently gifted $5MM to to establish the Anita Zucker Program for Jewish Early Childhood Education. Her dedication to the field of education has resulted in initiatives across the country to professionalize and incentivize the field of early childhood education. The Anita Zucker Scholarship for Jewish Early Childhood Education makes it possible for undergraduate students who are interested in early childhood education to become professionals without financial hardship, and it will lead the way in transforming the status of Jewish early childhood education. 

We are thrilled to greet five exceptional young future Jewish early childhood educators to Stern College for Women this Fall 2023. Through the SCW educator preparation program’s rigorous course work, high quality clinical experiences, and personalized mentoring, the Zucker scholars are poised to impact the field of Jewish early childhood education. Read below to learn a little more about their backgrounds and commitment to Jewish early childhood education.  

Aviv Amar 

Aviv Amar graduated as Co-Salutatorian of High School for Girls and then continued her studies at Beit Midrash for Women - Migdal Oz in Israel. She has worked in early childcare for eight years, including three years tutoring underserved youth as a volunteer and eight summers as a Morah in a nursery camp. Aviv is excited to be a part of ’s MafTeach program, where she spends extended weekends at the Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh receiving mentorship from their early childhood department as well as leading chaburot and activities for the middle and high school. She was also an advisor on the Tikvah Summer Scholars Program this past summer where she served as a positive religious and general role model for a diverse group of students. Aviv has loved her fieldwork experiences through the Anita Zucker program and has gained tremendously from the Cooperating Teachers. Aviv hopes to use this opportunity as a member of the first cohort of Anita Zucker Scholars to gain the tools to teach, inspire, and motivate the next generation of Yeshiva students in their yiddishkeit early on, and to guide young children in the process of creating a meaningful, long lasting, and unwavering connection with Hashem that will carry them through as they grow and develop.  

Eshrat Botach    

Born and raised in Los Angeles as the youngest of seven, Eshrat Botach grew up in a religious Jewish household and attended an Orthodox day school. At thirteen, her family relocated to Las Vegas, where she transitioned to a more secular Jewish school. Her passion for early childhood education began early, rooted in the belief that instilling Jewish values from a young age is essential. Working at the Friendship Circle of Las Vegas deepened her dedication to this mission.

Now studying Early Childhood Jewish Education at ’s Stern College for Women in Manhattan, Eshrat has spent the past year immersing herself in academic and extracurricular experiences. One of the most rewarding aspects of her fieldwork has been rediscovering her favorite childhood books through the eyes of young learners, further affirming her passion for teaching. Serving on the board of college clubs like Commnity has also allowed her to foster connections and engage meaningfully with her peers.

Beyond the classroom, Eshrat is deeply committed to Israel advocacy. As a former StandWithUs Intern, she gained valuable experience in educating and empowering others to support Israel. Recently, she had the privilege of volunteering in Israel, helping with farm produce, packing food and clothing for displaced families, and sorting through donations—an eye-opening experience that reinforced her dedication to service and community support. Looking ahead, she is eager to continue her studies as an Anita Zucker scholarship for Jewish Education awardee, embrace new opportunities in education, and make a lasting impact in her local and global communities.

Elianna Goldman 

Elianna Goldman is from Houston, Texas. After graduating from Torah Girls Academy, she spent a year at Midreshet Tehilla in Israel. She has always been passionate about education and volunteered throughout high school in a local Kiruv shul working on various programs including their Hebrew school and monthly children's outreach activities. 
Now in New York, Elianna is pursuing a bachelor's in early childhood education at Stern College. She has gained valuable experience through fieldwork placements, teaching in a community Hebrew school, and a Jewish Education Fellowship through Maimonides in Boston, MA. She is grateful for the Anita Zucker Early Childhood Scholarship, which has supported her professional growth and passion for Jewish early childhood education.

Sivan Kahlon 

Sivan Kahlon is a junior from Philadelphia, PA, with a diverse educational background spanning various Jewish day schools. She began her education at a Beis Yaakov elementary school and later attended the pluralistic Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in 2018.
Passionate about education and community involvement, Sivan has spent the past six summers working at Camp Gan Izzy, a Chabad summer day camp. She also serves as a volunteer program coordinator for children at her synagogue and works as a substitute teacher at the Sephardic Academy of Manhattan. Over the past two years, she has completed fieldwork at two different schools across New York City and is currently doing fieldwork in her third school, further deepening her love for Jewish early childhood education.

Last summer, Sivan interned at ELI NextGen, an educational startup in Tel Aviv dedicated to teaching young adults about Israel’s startup ecosystem. In this role, she researched Jewish day schools across the U.S. to identify institutions that would benefit from ELI NextGen’s programs. Having attended four different schools throughout her own education, Sivan understands firsthand the impact a great teacher can have on a student navigating a new academic environment. After experiencing teachers who helped spark her confidence in an academic setting where she once struggled, she became inspired to provide that same encouragement to her future students. She believes that a teacher’s influence lasts a lifetime and is committed to fostering a classroom environment that celebrates students’ strengths rather than focusing solely on their challenges.
 

Michelle Kirschner

Michelle Kirschner is from Woodmere, New York. She attended HAFTR High School and spent a gap year studying at Tiferet Seminary in Israel. Throughout her high school career, she gained valuable hands-on experience working and volunteering at Yachad, Friendship Circle, and Kulanu. In addition, she spent the last two summers at Camp HASC and gained tremendous knowledge and growth from that experience. During her time at HASC, she obtained first-hand experience with the type of children she hopes to work with in the future. She learned from a diverse environment and saw how these experiences can help her grow as an educator. She believes these experiences will allow her to amplify her teaching abilities as she pursues a career in Early Childhood Education.

The Anita Zucker Early Childhood Scholarship gives her the opportunity to gain first-hand experience toward starting her professional career. Through her coursework and fieldwork in the Anita Zucker Jewish Early Childhood Education program, she has gained valuable insights into child development and innovative teaching strategies. Whether through hands-on classroom experiences or engaging with early learners in meaningful ways, she finds these opportunities especially rewarding and instrumental in shaping her future as an educator.

Carly Sorscher 

Carly Sorscher was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She attended Hillel Torah Day School, then Ida Crown Jewish Academy for high school, followed by a year in Israel at Tiferet Center. She is currently in her second year at . Throughout high school, she led the youth groups at her shul and spent the summers working at a local Jewish day camp. She served as the president of Yachad for Yachad Chicago during her senior year of high school. Carly was also highly involved in planning ICJA Takes The Stage and Ida Crown Girls Club, both of which were started by the school to encourage women’s self-growth and leadership skills. Both last summer and this upcoming summer, Carly will serve as the director of Camp Chai for Girls in Skokie, Illinois.

Through the early childhood program, Carly has done fieldwork every semester in addition to taking classes. Fieldwork presents Carly with the opportunity to be hands-on in the classroom and learn from different teachers and schools. Some of the most important aspects that Carly has learned from the fieldwork experiences are different teaching styles and methods, classroom management, and student engagement. All of these experiences have helped pave the way for her decision to major in Jewish Early Childhood Education and she is looking forward to beginning her journey of becoming an Early Childhood Jewish educator through the Anita Zucker Early Childhood Scholarship.  

Pearlie Ness

Pearlie Ness is a recent graduate from Bruriah High School in Hillside, New Jersey, class of 2023. After high school, Pearlie spent a year and a half studying at Tiferet Seminary, deepening her knowledge and personal growth. Pearlie has also gained valuable hands-on experience by working with children at Camp HASC over the past three summers. Through her time at the HASC, she was mentored by experienced staff members who shared their teaching methods and insights, sparking her passion for education. Pearlie’s experience helped her recognize the importance of understanding that each child learns differently, a lesson that shapes her approach to teaching. She is now pursuing a career in Early Childhood Education, with a particular interest in creating inclusive learning environments that cater to children with diverse needs within the Jewish education system.

Mikayla Lederman

Mikayla Lederman is from Newton, Massachusetts, where she grew up attending Maimonides School. She began at Maimo in Kindergarten and continued there through her high school graduation in 2023. Following high school, Mikayla attended seminary at Tiferet in Ramat Beit Shemesh. While growing up in Newton, Mikayla was an instrumental part of her shul's Shabbos youth groups, where she lead the community children in parsha games and activities. She was also active in NCSY and, after graduation, took on a leadership role in her local NCSY chapter to help inspire and educate the younger teens. Throughout high school, Mikayla was a board member for Boston Yachad. Last year Mikayla had an opportunity to volunteer at Maimonides as a teacher for students who receive extra academic support while in school. During this time, she discovered the importance of using different teaching techniques to meet the needs of students with different learning styles. Mikayla is excited to learn and grow as an educator and mentor through the Early Childhood Education program at Stern.