Ela (Wilson) O'Connor ’13 - Portland, OR

Ela is a unique type of educator, with a goal of encouraging her students to care about their learning. She has a tremendous amount of experience dealing with students from varying backgrounds and ages from her times in living in Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, and now Portland. Her style is a conglomeration of many leading pedagogical techniques, which she has transformed into something completely her own. She uses her skills and experience within her current role as Judaics Assistant Principal at Maayan Torah Day School. She creates opportunities to train and support the Judaic staff, create meaningful programs for the school, and promote the incredible Judaic program to the community. She lives with her husband Akiva in the warm Portland community where she also makes a difference in Jewish women's lives through connecting and giving various shiurim on topics she is passionate about.

"One of my favorite topics I love to explore and teach is women in Tanach. My inspiration comes directly from Rebbetzin Rosenbaum's incredible class. At WITS/Maalot I learned the foundations of Jewish hashkafa and was inspired by the many incredible teachers. The kodesh classes were meaningful and taught practical applications of Torah ideas that I apply to my life and teachings daily, thank you!!"