Ilana Nowatzky-Bendet is an educator with over 20 years of experience working with children and teenagers, both in Israel and the United States. She views teaching as a mission and works with a deep love for the Hebrew language and a strong commitment to connecting students with Israeli culture and identity.

Ilana began her professional journey studying history and archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where she also completed her teaching certification. She later worked at Yad Vashem in the Research and Development Department, where she wrote educational programs on teaching the Holocaust to high school students in Israel.

Throughout her teaching career, Ilana worked as a history teacher and homeroom educator at various schools in Jerusalem, including nine years at Boyar High School. After relocating to the United States with her family, she completed her Ph.D. in modern history at the Hebrew University under the supervision of Professor Moshe Zimmermann.

Alongside her academic work, Ilana’s passion for educating children of all ages and desire to share the richness and joy of the Hebrew language led her to a Jewish day school in New York, where she taught for 11 years. During that time, she developed curricula tailored to teaching Hebrew to native speakers of Hebrew.

Recently, she moved to California with her family and is excited about the opportunity to continue her educational work in a new community through the JCC. Ilana believes in a personal and inclusive approach that sees each student as a whole, and she strives to create a warm, enriching and engaging learning environment that fosters a meaningful connection to the language, culture and identity.