Rebecca Ravski sees herself as a connector for people. She first ignited her passion for education through a “buddy program” at Camp Ramah and hasn’t looked back.
Ravski is now the early childhood director at B’nai Israel Congregation, overseeing the award-winning Schilit Nursery School.
Before that, she worked as a special education teacher in New York City’s public school system, and then taught at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School in Washington, D.C., for seven years.
Ravski holds a bachelor’s degree in education and elementary special education from Syracuse University and a master’s in literacy from Columbia University. She lives in Rockville with her husband and three young children, who enjoy trips to playgrounds and spending time as a family.
Tell me about your Jewish upbringing and background.
I grew up in a small town outside of New Haven, Connecticut, called Woodbridge. I grew up in a very close-knit Conservative Jewish community, so I started my Jewish education in early childhood going to a synagogue nursery school. From there, I continued and went to Ezra Academy, which was a Solomon Schechter Day School, until eighth grade. I think my early childhood and elementary school community really shaped the Jewish person I am today, along with my family; my grandparents are Holocaust survivors, so, growing up, I had a strong Jewish background and Jewish identity, which only continued as I grew.
Have you always wanted to go into teaching?
Yes, along with going to a Solomon Schechter Day School, I also went to Camp Ramah in New England, and it was there that I really found my love of working with other children when I was in the older age group [as a high schooler]. They have a special needs population that they serve, and as an older camper, you can help out — it’s called Amitzim. I did that one summer and I really loved it and I felt it was very rewarding. So that was a pivotal moment for me wanting to go into teaching and working with children.
[At Camp Ramah], I was paired with a 12-year-old girl. I was probably 14 or 15, and all summer, I would hang out with her; I would sit with her at some meals. She wasn’t very communicative. She wasn’t nonverbal, but I think she was shy, and by the end of the summer, I remember she handed me a flower and said, “Friends?” And I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is what I’m supposed to do.” Creating those connections to help teach and foster connection and learning is really what drove me to be a teacher.
Why did you pursue special education?
That moment, of that little girl creating that connection with me, was why I wanted to go into special education so that I could help all different types of children, not just typical children, but children who needed more support, who needed help finding and making those connections. That was important to me.
What are your responsibilities as the early childhood director at B’nai Israel?
I oversee the nursery school in its day-to-day operations, staffing, curriculum and enrollment, and I also work alongside the synagogue staff and do programming for early childhood within the synagogue. For example, on High Holidays, we have the Tots experience, and I oversee that program as part of the larger synagogue community.
What do you enjoy about your work?
I love seeing the growth of the children from when they come, such as for the Tikvah Twos, which is our transitional program, and watching them grow each year and seeing how their growth and knowledge transforms, and watching those children graduate — I think that’s one of my favorite parts.
I’m big on building connections and relationships, both with the children, but also the families. Creating that community is extremely important to me. I think of myself as a connector to different people, so when we have a new family come in, I try to connect them to other families so that it helps build their community and the community around them.
How do you incorporate Jewish learning at home?
We celebrate all the holidays in my household. My husband is the associate rabbi at B’nai Israel, so we do a lot of at-home education. Every Friday night, we sing Shabbat songs and my kids stand around me when I light Shabbat candles. We do Kiddush and my kids say Hamotzi.
We find moments all week, every week, to embed what our Jewish values are and share that with our children. For example, the nursery school is doing a pajama drive, so on Sunday, I took my kids shopping for pajamas. I explained to them that we’re not keeping the pajamas for us; we’re going to give them to people who need pajamas for tzedakah. I explained what tzedakah was to them. It wasn’t the first time, but they usually [associate] money with tzedakah, not a tangible thing. My kids were so excited to go put the three pairs of pajamas we each picked out in the [donation] bucket. As we did that, my 3-year-old was like, “These aren’t for us. These are to help someone else.” Reinforcing what we learn or what we’re teaching them is important.
