“We met a real celebrity!” At least that’s how students at the Strelitz Early Childhood Center felt at the end of the school year after spending time with Emily Aronoff Teck of Miss Emily Celebrates.
Aronoff Teck is a Jewish music educator and early childhood specialist who believes in the power of informal education. She utilizes music as her tool of choice to empower children and adults. Aronoff Teck traveled from southern Florida to Tidewater to present a concert for students and offer an educational workshop for teachers.
Throughout the day, students from the JCC Beginnings program, Strelitz preschool, and Hebrew Academy of Tidewater (first and second graders)—as well as two dozen students from the JCC of the Peninsula—enjoyed Aronoff Teck as she created a spiritual, educational, and fun environment that was part sing along and part concert. Students were engaged and involved by singing, dancing, and “writing songs.” They even Skyped on the big screen with artist, Noah Aronson, and sang with him. All of the songs were spiritually based and explained the meaning of many traditional prayers in a developmentally appropriate manner.
During Aronoff Teck’s visit, many educators—from HAT/Strelitz and the Peninsula, as well as seven teachers from Southside synagogues—were also treated to an educational and spiritually uplifting workshop, “Using Music to Foster Spiritual Development in Young Children.”
Aronoff Teck was particularly complimentary of the local teachers, students, and facility. She noted how impressed she was by the students’ depth of knowledge about Judaic concepts and the faculty’s commitment to Jewish life—teaching students not only tradition, but meaning. As Ellen Sachs, preschool teacher, says, “It was truly a home run!”
In 2010, Aronoff Teck was awarded the prestigious Grinspoon Steinhardt-Award for excellence in Jewish education, she holds a degree in Jewish Studies, is currently pursuing an EdD at Gratz, and has been studying music for 15 years. Aronoff Teck is working with the University of Miami on music in Jewish value curriculum and was published in The Jewish Educator, a magazine published by NewCAJE. She is currently working on her third album.
Strelitz Early Childhood Center is a constituent agency of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
by Alene Kaufman, Strelitz Preschool director