Dawn Friedman (Youth Education Director) is a graduate of Northwestern University and the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School, a two-year Jewish Studies program for educators sponsored by the Board of Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago.  A former professional dancer and dance teacher, Dawn has conducted numerous arts-in-education residencies and workshops at Chicago-area public schools and was a faculty member at Columbia College Chicago and several dance studios.  She also worked as general manager for two non-profit organizations.  

Dawn has been a member of several Humanistic Jewish congregations and taught Sunday School at the Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Fairfield County, Connecticut, where she was also an Assistant to the Education Director.  She has been Youth Education Director since Kol Hadash’s founding in 2001, and has served on the Steering Committee. Dawn is also a certified Pilates instructor. Dawn and her husband Mark (see below) live in Deerfield with their daughter.

Karen Whiteman (K/1st, Music), part of a three-generation family at Kol Hadash, has been affiliated with Humanistic Judaism since she was in second grade. Karen began her teaching career as the teacher’s aide for a fifth grade Sunday School class; after graduating from college, she taught fifth grade Sunday School and later kindergarten, first grade, and music. Since the founding of Kol Hadash in 2001, Karen has been the Kindergarten/1st grade teacher and youth music director. Karen also sings in the Kol Hadash choir. Both her children were confirmed at Kol Hadash.

Karen holds a B.S. in Education and Special Education and an M.A. in Special Education emphasizing early childhood.  She has taught special education students from 2nd grade through 8th grade throughout the Chicago area and ran a very successful home day care center for children three months to eight years old for fifteen years.  Karen currently teaches middle school students with learning disabilities in Waukegan. A Deerfield resident, Karen is married to Rick Whiteman.

Michelle Fishman (2nd/3rd Grades) has been teaching Sunday School at Kol Hadash since its founding and is very excited about the growth in our congregation and the many new students in our Sunday School program.  Michelle was raised as a Humanistic Jew and feels that allows her to teach children about our religion with passion, excitement and a true understanding of what it means to be a Humanistic Jew. She enjoys sharing her Jewish life experiences with her students and teaching them about the important story that we the Jewish people have to tell and the legacy we will leave to future generations. Michelle works at Interline Creative Group, a business-to-business advertising agency.  She lives in Wheeling with her husband Steve and two daughters.

Mark Friedman (4th/5th Grades) is a second-generation Humanistic Jew who completed a Humanistic Kindergarten-thru-Confirmation Sunday School education in his childhood. In the past, he has taught both Sunday School and adult education at various Humanistic congregations. In 2003 he joined the Kol Hadash Sunday School staff and created a new 4th-5th grade curriculum focusing on 19th-20th century Jewish immigration to America; in 2006 he created a new curriculum for that class: Heroes and Choices. In professional life, Mark has worked in the children's educational publishing industry for 15 years and is currently the Vice President/Editorial Director for InContext Publishing Solutions, an Evanston company that develops educational materials in the K-12 textbook market.  Mark is a former chair and vice-chair, of the Kol Hadash Steering Committee, has served on the Finance and Communications Committees, and is editor of the Kol Hadash newsletter, The Shofar.  Mark and his wife Dawn, Youth Education Director, live in Deerfield with their daughter, who became a Bat Mitzvah in 2008.

Louise Neidorf (6th) has been teaching a Humanistic Jewish curriculum for more than 25 years.  At Kol Hadash, Louise has taught curricula she created for 4th/5th, 6th, and 7th/8th grades.  She also created and teaches a comparative religion curriculum for 8th grade students at Congregation Solel in Highland Park.  For ten years, Louise was a docent at the Terra Museum of American Art in Chicago.  In 2006, she completed the two-year Florence Melton Adult Mini-School, a program of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, including a study seminar in Israel.  Louise lives in Evanston, and she is currently head of the Interlibrary Loan department at the Wilmette Public Library.  

Leora Hatchwell (7th/8th) was born in Israel, grew up in Los Angeles, and returned to Israel to pursue a Bachelors degree in nutrition at Hebrew University.  She also has a Masters degree in Food Science from the University of Illinois.  Leora worked as a flavor scientist for 28 years.  Currently, she designs and makes jewelry and painted silk ritual items, such as chuppahs.  She is fascinated by Sephardic Jewish history.  Leora has taught Sunday School at Kol Hadash since its founding in 2001.  She is a member of the Kol Hadash Steering Committee and is its current chair; she also chairs the By-Laws Committee.  Leora and her husband Tom McCune live in Buffalo Grove; their daughter was confirmed in 2004 and was the 2nd/3rd grade classroom aide for two years.

David Hirsch (9th/10th, Confirmation) is a product of a Humanistic Sunday School; his Confirmation Class teacher was Rabbi Daniel Friedman, one of the founders of Humanistic Judaism and Rabbi Emeritus of Kol Hadash. A Deerfield resident, David and his wife Glynis have two children. They all go to Sunday School together. In addition to teaching Sunday School, David sings in the choir, is a past chair of the Steering Committee, and is the current chair of the Development Committee . For more than 20 years, David has been teaching in the English Department of Deerfield High School. You have probably seen David shuttling his kids around—he’s the one with the Star Trek minivan!

Noah Pinko (Hebrew) was born in Israel.  He grew up on Kibbutz Hanita near the Lebanese border and served as a paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces.  A Naperville resident, Noah and his wife Kathy have two children. They all go to Sunday school together.  Noah is a driving instructor for teens.