The Moments That Stay With Them

October 16, 2026

For two years, Erica Tucker taught a little girl who never spoke to her at school. 

The child was always watching and listening. She participated in Erica’s art, Judaics and STEM classes at The MJCCA Schiff School, but when a teacher or classmate asked her a question, she stayed silent. 

Then one day, Erica was with her one-on-one in the sensory room, a space made possible by a JAccess grant from Federation, and asked a question she had asked countless times before: “What is my name?” 

“Miss Erica,” the little girl answered. 

Erica still gets chills remembering it. 

“That was the moment that it all clicked,” she said. “She had been taking it in for the past two years.” 

It is one of countless moments happening every day in Jewish early childhood classrooms across Atlanta, where educators are doing much more than teaching letters, numbers and holiday traditions. They are helping children feel safe, understood and connected, while building the social and emotional skills they will carry into the world. 

Charlotte Kimhi, a long-time teacher at Congregation Beth Shalom’s Alefbet preschool says, “Educators are helping build little citizens who are ready for the world.” And for Julie Fine, a kindergarten teacher at Atlanta Jewish Academy, that impact is intertwined with Jewish identity: giving children the opportunity to celebrate Jewish life together and develop a desire to keep learning and connecting.

Now, Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta is helping more people discover the meaning, joy and possibilities of a career in Jewish early childhood education. Because strengthening Jewish education also means investing in the people who create those formative experiences every day. 

For Erica, the impact may be remembered less in the details of a particular lesson than in something deeper. 

“I want her to carry the feeling of being here,” Erica said. “The feeling of remembering that it felt safe, that she was heard.”

Interested in making a lasting impact?

Explore teaching opportunities at jewishatlanta.org/JLearn or contact Angelena May, Early Childhood Jewish Education Manager, at amay@jewishatlanta.org.