By , Special to JTNews
On June 2, the Seattle Jewish Community School will hold its 10th auction at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel and Towers. In addition to being a fun and entertaining event (John Curley, host of KING 5 Television’s “Evening Magazine,” will be master of ceremonies), the school will be honoring its beloved principal, Joyce Shane.
As veteran SJCS teacher and parent Beth Huppin says, “Joyce is respected and beloved by the staff, children, parents and community. She is the glue that holds this community together.”
Although she majored in geology at Barnard College, Shane always loved languages and took courses in French, German and Italian. Her love of Hebrew of course predates college. Shane says, “The day I walked into my first class at Talmud-Torah, I fell in love with Hebrew.”
She was raised in an Orthodox home and attended Talmud-Torah throughout her childhood. Although she was accepted into a master’s program in geology at Harvard, Shane soon decided that Jewish education was her first love, and she became committed to passing on the richness of Jewish heritage that had meant so much to her in her life.
Joyce and her husband, Barry Shane, moved to Corvalis, Ore., in 1971, as Barry had received an appointment at Oregon State University. There, Joyce and Barry were founders of Congregation Beit Am. Joyce also taught in the religious school, and tutored Hebrew and B’nai Mitzvah.
In 1988, the family moved to Seattle for a one-year sabbatical, and this was her introduction to the Beth Shalom community. The next year she led High Holiday services at Beth Shalom, and has led those services ever since.
Shane has been the principal of the Seattle Jewish Community School for the past six years. Shane says that from the moment she first walked in to SJCS in the basement of Beth Shalom, she knew it was a healthy school, and she gives full credit to her predecessor, Debbie Butler, who has been her mentor and friend. Shane has seen the school grow from 10 children in the basement to a K–5 community school with 93 children in a beautiful space at Temple Beth Am.
Her vision for the school is that it will continue to grow, and SJCS will eventually have the space to accommodate all families who want a Jewish education for their children as well as to serve the educational needs of all its students.